Another Kind of Drama
by Novashiro
Summary: Alternate STD where Kim doesn't believe Ron about the diablo stitch. (I really like starting at So The Drama because it gives you a good start if you want to twist the story.) The pairing is a secret.
1. Chapter 1 : Broken Trust

"I'm telling you they are evil. It's the perfect plan. With all the Bueno Nachos around the world Drakken could set up his entire army without anyone noticing."

This voice belongs to a junior high schooler, Ron Stoppable who also happens to be a part-time world savior alongside the world famous teen hero Kim Possible. Kim Possible who was listening to him with doubtful eyes after he had barged in their prom and interrupted her perfect time with her date: Eric.

"Come on, this makes no sense. Evil toys from a fast food chain? No matter how you look at it, it is ridiculous." Eric said loud enough to allow the majority of their classmates to hear it.

Ron had difficulties controlling his anger. "Go ahead," he said "I don't care if you think I'm a fool or a buffoon, because I'm sure at least Kim will trust me." "Of course she'll trust me" he thought "we saved the world times and times again together and I always got her back. There is no way she'll let me down. Right?"

Kim's eyes focused on Ron, the way he was looking at her with complete faith but also a bit of fear, as if he was scared of something…

"Ron," she said calmly "We went over that already, the fact that I'm dating Eric doesn't mean I'll leave you. You need to leave your insecurities behind you."

Ron's face went pale "No, this isn't happening…" he thought "So you think it's about that? Kim, do you really think I would invent a threat just to…"

"Ron!" She interrupted him "Not now!" she said firmly "We'll talk about this tomorrow but for now, just let me enjoy my prom night." She concluded as she left him to go back to the dancefloor.

Ron just stood there for a few seconds, watching her join her boyfriend, laugh at one of his jokes and start to dance again before leaving the prom, completely defeated.

"Ha!" a voice said "At least there's something good that came out of this shitty night."

Ron stopped. "Not now Bonnie." He said "I'm not in the mood for this."

-"Why?" She asked "Because little miss perfect finally grew tired of your antics? That wasn't a good tactic you know? Trying to get between and her perfect boyfriend was bound to end up like this."

-"Shut up." He said in a low growl.

-"Hmmm? Sorry loser I didn't hear you. Well now you are truly the n°1 loser at school, you don't even have Kim as a friend. I'm not sure she'll even want to speak to you again after you almost ruined her perfect night."

-"Shut up!" Ron said louder.

-"Oh!" Bonnie said "You want me to stop? Though luck loser, I'm just getting started with you. If you want me to stop why don't you try to call some friends for help? Ah right, I forgot, you have no friends now, now you are really, completely and utterly alone. Like the loser you are."

-"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUP!" he roared. A roar that contained all his anger, his pain, his betrayal and his despair. He felt so bad he could feel tears in his eyes.

Taking advantage of the fact that Bonnie was too startled to react, he took off.

As he arrived to his home, there was nothing more appealing that his bed. He just wanted to fall asleep and hope this was only a bad dream. Bonnie, Kim, Eric, the robots, everything.

"The robots!" he thought. The memory of Drakken's new plan sent shivers down his spine, keeping him awake and chasing away the memory of what just happened. For now.

The fact that Kim ignored the threat didn't make it vanish, it only made it more dangerous. He had to contact…

Who? Global Justice? The only way he could do that was with Kim's Kimmunicator.

There was no way the police or any state department would believe him (he was just Kim's buffoon sidekick, let's not forget that.)

He couldn't even talk to wade since the only way he could get to him was through Kim's locker of which he didn't have the combination, or Kim's Kimmunacator which was at the prom.

Hel even if he could contact someone, he couldn't even explain them what was going on. It's not as if he personally knew a robotic expert…

Some flashes went through his head. The moment all the kid had invaded his beloved fast food in order to get the toys he had recognized two familiar faces. Well, not exactly two since it was the same face on two separate people.

He took off to the only place where he could get answers. The Possible house.

As he parked in front of the house he wondered how Kim's parents would react about what had happened at the prom… He shook his head. "This isn't their problem" he thought "This is between me and Kim."

He rang the doorbell and waited for a bit only to have Mr Possible open to him.

"Ronald," he started "come in. What can I do for you? If you're looking for Kim she's at her prom with her date, a fine young man if you want my opinion…"

It took a lot of Ron's self-control to keep a smiling face, "actually Mr Dr P, I was looking for you." He replied as he entered the living room where Mrs Dr P and the twins were waiting. "I was wondering if you could analyze those Diablo toys since you're the only robotic expert I know. "

-"Analyze them?" James asked "What for?"

Ron decided to lie a little bit, even though he had never been good at it Mr Dr P was even worse at detecting lies. "Well, we had some piece of information about Dr Drakken and Bueno Nachos so I wanted to be sure nothing was going on. I didn't want to bother Kim since she has her big prom night and all, so I thought I would ask you."

-"That's very kind of you Ronald." said a sweet voice coming from the living room, "trying to let Kim enjoy her big night as much as possible."

Ron looked at Anne Possible and saw she wasn't buying any of his explanations, as usual she could easily see through him. He just hoped she wouldn't ask too many questions.

"Fine, if that's what it is." James said as he took one of his son's new toy "If they are only toys it shouldn't take too much time."

Meanwhile in Bueno Nachos Headquarters Dr Drakken couldn't stop laughing.

"Did you see it Shego?" He kept asking "The face of the sidekick when she turned him down? It was priceless, completely priceless. And here I was, getting scared when he discovered my secret, when I didn't anticipate my perfect plan was too perfect. Kim Possible is definitely grounded for the night. And tomorrow when she'll see my complete victory, that her buffoon sidekick was right and that she pushed him away she will be completely broken."

He spun on his chair before working on his diablo control room "Now I just have to make sure Kim Possible won't be able to intervene, I know where she is I just have to trap her in here before I activate my worldwide attack."

-"I've got to admit it Dr D," Shego said "Maybe you have an actual chance of succeeding this time." She paused for a while. "I gotta say: I'm impressed."

-"Hmmm? What was that Shego? A word of praise? From you? Are you sure you're alright?" Drakken asked.

-"Of course I'm alright!" she said "We're winning and Kimmie won't even be coming to stop us this time. Just don't get used to it or it might get to your head." "Maybe I'm also a bit disappointed" she thought "I won't get to fight her this time. A victory without an opponent is definitely boring."

Back at the Possible's house

-"I can't believe it!" James said. "This is high level Cybertronic, it looks just like… MY Hephaestus project! This Dr Drakken stole my invention."

-"And what does it mean?" Ron asked.

-"With my Hephaestus project it means these little robots can repair themselves and even grow bigger and larger." James explained. "Don't worry it has to be guided by a signal." He added as he saw their scared faces.

-"Than all that's left is to stop Drakken." Ron said "Where is Bueno Nachos headquarters?" he mumbled as he jumped on the computer. "150 miles? That's way too far."

-"Jim, Tim," Anne said, "Do you still have these rockets."

-"Good idea Honey," James said as he understood his wife's idea, "Ron we'll boost your bike, go get Kimmie and stop this crazy guy again."

-"Right…" Ron said lightly.

Anne started walking toward him "Ron," she started "What happened? You know you can tell me everything."

As she was speaking a low sound started and the robots seemed to start moving. The two little toys Jim and Tim had bought at a fast food became huge robots with devastating weapons.

Ron was preparing to try to get their attention to drive them away from Kim's family but the robots just took off in the sky after they broke the roof.

-"I don't get it," Jim said.

-"Where are they going?" Tim concluded.

Ron looked at the direction they were going before realizing he knew the answer. "Kim!" he shouted before rushing toward his newly rocket boosted bike.

He went full speed right toward the prom and the scene he witnessed as he got in sight of the building left him speechless. Eight diablos were positioned around the building, emitting was seemed to be a kind of force field that completely trapped the occupants inside with no way out.

Kim was completely out of the game unless he could take out one of these giant robots. Which seemed pretty impossible.

He racked his brain in order to figure out a way of saving Kim but no matter how much he thought about it he could only figure out one single way. Taking out Drakken and making him release the force field. Which meant he had to do it alone. Alone. Alone against Drakken, his goons, his synthodrones and Shego. Yeah, let's not forget Shego.

But there was no other choice. And even if there was he didn't have the time to figure it out.

He turned back toward the direction of the Bueno Nacho's headquarters "Well, time to step up." He said as he drove into the night.


	2. Chapter 2 : Lone Invader

Ron made a stop at his house and started to gather whatever could be useful. He didn't have any of Wade's gadgets with him this time so he had to be as prepared as possible. He first changed into his mission clothes before grabbing whatever could be useful in the house. Fortunately his parents weren't here to see the ruckus he created in the house. He grabbed a rope, some reminders of his journey to Yamanouchi, for the first time he cursed himself for not taking any weapons when he came back from Japan. He still took few smoke bombs and flashbangs in case he had to escape from a dire situation before grabbing a few shurikens which could be useful against Drakken's synthodrones.

As he had finished his backpack and was heading toward the Bueno Nacho HQ he couldn't help but wonder what Kim would do. As he thought about Kim he couldn't prevent his mind from wondering how she was hanging on, trapped in here.

A few minutes earlier, at the prom.

Kim felt like she couldn't be happier, her boyfriend was perfect in every way, charming, handsome, popular, gentle and a very good dancer to the boot. Sure her little discussion with Ron had been rough but they would work it out. They always worked it out. Besides inventing a threat just because he wanted not to feel alone wasn't something he could joke about. They would talk about this tomorrow, for now she should focus on her handsome and awesome boyfriend who seemed to have a worried look on his face.

-"Are you okay?" he asked.

-"It's fine." She replied "let's keep going."

-"You were thinking about Ron right?" he asked "That was so immature of him, to barge in like that in the middle of our prom…"

-"Eric," She said "I'm having a really good time right now so let's not talk about him and just enjoy the moment."

-"You're right," he said with a smile before capturing her lips with his.

Kim felt herself melting into her boyfriend's kiss, now she couldn't be happier, she always dreamt of that moment ever since she was a little girl. Deep down however, it was like something wasn't right, a feeling of dissatisfaction she couldn't truly grasp. As Eric ended their kiss they resumed their dance as Kim racked her brain to find the source of this feeling.

She felt like she was so close to it when the sound of a mountain dropping near the prom interrupted her thoughts. She took some time to regain her footing as it happened again, seven other times. "No, no, no" she thought "Not now. Not tonight". She rushed outside only to end up face to face with a giant robot. Kim froze. A giant robot whose face seemed awfully familiar. The robot emitted a green light that connected to next one. After a few second, the entire building was completely surrounded.

Kim leaped toward the outside only to be pushed back by the strange light biting the dust in front of the other students. "A force field?" she thought "Just who?" She kept going for a while, trying to escape from this birdcage only to be relentlessly pushed back. After a last unsuccessful attempt she stopped trying to escape by force and tried to figure a way out. After a bit of thinking, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

-"Hello" a familiar voice started, coming from the closest Diablo "1, 2, 1, 2 test, Do you hear me, Middleton high schoolers?" This is Dr Drakken speaking."

-"Drakken!" Kim roared "What is this?"

-"What do you think is this, Kim Possible?" he asked "My new take over the world scheme of course. Distributing all these little toys around the entire planet using a fast food chain only to have those becoming super robots afterwards. Clever don't you think? Especially since this time you won't be able to do anything."

Kim felt like her legs suddenly became heavier. Not because of Drakken's plan but because she already heard this earlier.

-"Of course this buffoon sidekick of yours almost ruined everything when he barged in here earlier, revealing you my perfect plan. I got really scared for a second, fortunately you were stupid enough to push him away." He paused "Poor kid, the first time in his life he did something useful and his best friend doesn't believe in him. I could cry about it if it hadn't so funny to watch it live."

Kim couldn't even find the strength to talk back, or even move, all she could do was replaying the scene inside her mind. Why didn't she gave him the benefit of doubt? She could have simply checked it with Wade, it would have taken 5 minutes at most. And now she was trapped in here.

-"Someone will still stop you, Drakken." She said "don't think you'll be able to do what you please."

-"And who will?" he replied with a wicked grin "My toys were extremely popular you know, all around the world. How about I show you? You think you're the only one who got attacked tonight? No I took precautions to take care of every single organization that could attack me."

Now the diablo projected some videos on the wall and Drakken was commenting, every time the scene was the same, some giant robots were wreaking havoc in some official building and the people could only hide. "The pentagon, China, The United Nations, Europe, all these are already down." He glanced at Kim "Even your little nerdling and some shady organization called Global Justice." He said as the video was Showing Dr Director evacuating her HQ in order to run from the giant robot that was destroying everything and Wade's home that was being completely destroyed by a Diablo Robot.

-"As you can see," Drakken kept going "you're the only one who had special treatment, I hope you are going to enjoy these little scenes until midnight when the real show starts."

Kim froze, "the real show?" she asked.

Drakken kept smiling "At Midnight, all the little Diablos I sold around the world are getting online, now this should be spectacular." He paused "As you can see, I already won, so I hope you enjoy your little perfect night while it lasts." He said before cutting the connection.

Kim didn't talk, she didn't look at her classmates. She had lost, for the first time in her life she had been completely defeated. It wasn't a pleasant feeling especially when you considered what it meant no only for her, but for the whole world.

She was going to start crying when another voice came from the robot, a woman's voice this time. "I gotta say Kimmie, I expected better of you this time" she said.

-"Shego…" Kim replied

-"Well, this victory will be really boring for me considering I won't even have to fight." Shego said "So when everything is over I will come to beat you down, so stay sharp princess, because I will come for you. "

As Shego finished speaking an alarm came from the robot's speakers "Intruder, Intruder, Intruder…"

-"What's that Dr D?" She asked.

-"Well Shego, come and look at that, seems like we have a challenger." Drakken replied. "I'm sure Kim Possible that you will be delighted to see how we'll handle our little guest."

All the images of devastation vanished, replaced by the view of a security camera from the Bueno Nacho HQ showing a man entering the building a backpack on his shoulder and a determined look on his face.

Kim fell on his knees when she recognized the man on the video. "No…" was the only thing she could mutter.

Drakken as if he was the host of a TV show shouted "Enter our challenger: Kim Possible's Buffoon sidekick."

Kim could only watch helplessly as her friend was walking toward what would probably be his doom. "Ron, please…" she started with tears in her eyes "Run."


	3. Chapter 3 : Invader must die

As he entered the Bueno Nacho's Headquarters Ron couldn't help but wonder if Drakken had already detected him when he broke in. "He always seem so surprised when Kim and I sneak up on him it would be strange for him to have any active alarm, however his scheme this time seem to be much more polished than before, better be careful."

As he walked inside the building he couldn't help but notice the surveillance cameras placed on the walls. He examined them with the eyes of someone who received ninja training and found a few dead angles, however if Drakken knew he was here it was useless, besides he was on a clock, he had to take out Drakken before his robots inflicted too much damage to the city and the world.

"Better rush then," he mumbled as he dashed through the hall of the HQ of what used to be his favorite fast food chain.

Back at the prom while all the students were completely shocked by the sudden turn their most awaited event of the year was subject to, what was really ruining their morale was Kim's attitude. Whatever anyone, even Bonnie, thought about Kim's *I can do anything attitude* the fact that she always pulled through at the end had always give them a great feeling of safety. However, at the moment their hero was completely prostrated on the ground, not moving the slightest, completely defeated.

Monique started walking toward her friend, "Kim," she started "It's not your fault, you couldn't know, no matter what you think about it now, nothing changes that at that time Ron's theory was absolutely ridiculous. You can't blame you for wanting just one night of fun."

-"You're wrong." Kim replied "It's not about that."

-"Then what is it?" She asked, "Kim, you know you can tell me anything."

Kim took a deep breath, lifted her head only for her BFF to see a tears filled face "Ron" she started "he wouldn't have cared if it seemed farfetched or ridiculous, he would still have followed me if I told him it was about alien cyborgs that look like flowers or giant bats with monkey heads. Whatever the threat I would come up with he would follow me, that kind of faith he had in me, it was the first time he asked the same kind of faith from me. And I betrayed him. I betrayed our relationship as partners, and I betrayed our friendship." She sighted "Everyone talk about me like I'm some kind of perfect girl, a role model for everyone but I couldn't even have faith in the person that is the closest to me. I feel like shit."

A sound of applause came from the closest Diablo robot, "That was so touching, you almost made me cry you know." Said Drakken's voice.

-"Dr D, are you crying?" Said Shego's snarky voice.

-"No, Shego you're wrong, I just have something in my eye." Drakken said. "Anyway, I wanted to make a bet with you, Kim Possible."

-"A bet?" she replied weakly.

-"Yes, a bet" confirmed Drakken "I have three ways to stop your little buffoon: My ninjas and their sumo ninja leader, my synthodrones and Shego. I will send them to him exactly in this order. So here's the bet: Which one do you think will stop him?"

Kim gasped, that was way too cruel, even for Drakken.

-"I'd bet on the synthodrones" Shego said, "He had some trouble against them when they went to save Kimmie's dad."

-"Huh? You're giving this buffoon too much credit Shego." Drakken said "I bet on the ninjas, this poor soul won't even last a minute."

-"Stop talking about Ron like that!" Kim roared.

-"Ouh, Kimmie's angry." Shego replied "Don't worry princess, no matter how much he's hurt tonight we probably won't hurt him half as much as you."

Kim felt like she had been slapped in the face and tears came back to her eyes as the memory of what happened earlier came back.

-"Shego! Look!" Drakken said, excited like a kid for Christmas "Looks like we'll have our answer right now."

Back at Bueno Nacho's HQ, Ron heard footsteps getting closer to him. Thanks to the way they stayed in the shadow he knew it was the ninja he fought with Kim in Japan, which meant there also was a sumo ninja nearby.

As the ninja jumped on him he couldn't help but smile: these were far from the level of the Yamanouchi students, as he started dodging their blows he could feel Master Sensei's teachings coming back to him. All the moves he learnt last year in Japan finally flowing naturally from him, as if a jammed gear finally went back to his rightful place.

He could see the ninjas coming toward him and perfectly counter them, the attack coming naturally from him: from ducking to a body blow, from a side step to a counter, from a jump to a jump kick, from a crouching stance to a sweeping kick. After few minutes of fighting the ninjas were lying on the ground while he only suffered minor bruises. However something wasn't right. "Where is the…" he started as he felt a sharp pain to his left side.

He leaped forward and turned to face the sumo ninja who had taken advantage of the fighting to sneak up behind him and hit him.

He felt pain as he tried to move. "Shit," he thought, "This bastard must have cracked me a rib or two, I should have been more careful."

-"I'm strong like a rock, I'm swift like the wind." The sumo ninja said with his high pitched voice.

"I can't lose time here." Ron thought "I have to find a way to finish this fast and without taking much damage. How did we beat him last time?" A smile came on his face as he formed a strategy quickly.

-"Hey buddy" He started "When we finish this, you might want to put some ice on that." He dashed toward the sumo, feinted a punch to the face and went for the groin.

The sumo ninja reacted quickly, remembering how their last encounter had ended and covered his family jewels with a low stance.

As Ron saw that he smile "Completely baited." he thought as he switched from an attack to the groin to a high kick to the temple. His opponent couldn't react fast enough to it and joined his friends on the ground. Ron winced as his side was hurting but he kept going forward to what seemed to be the direction of the control room.

At Middleton the whole school cheered at Ron's display when he made quick work of the ninjas and took care of their leader. No one could believe the guy on the screen was the same guy they always made fun of at school.

-"You're so cool Ron!" Tara yelled when Ron put down the supersized ninja.

-"Pff", Bonnie said, "In the end this loser won't be able to do anything, what's the point in getting out hopes up." She turned away "Even though this was pretty cool." She muttered only for herself.

In the control room Shego couldn't stop laughing, "Hahaha, you lose Dr D. You have always been so bad at bets."

-"I don't get how these idiots could lose against the buffoon," Drakken said "Bah, what's important is that the synthodrones will take care of him."

Ron kept going forward when a heard loud footsteps coming toward him. Whoever was coming didn't care about being silent. "Probably Drakken's synthodrones." Ron thought "come over here guys, the Ronster has a surprise for you." Eight synthodrones rushed inside the room after busting the door.

Ron was prepared and threw the shurikens he kept hidden in his pockets right toward the synthodrones. Their movements were still limited by the doorway and a fountain of synthogoo erupted when the shurikens found their targets. Among the eight synthodrones that had come to stop him only two were still able to fight.

Ron took a fighting stance and braced himself for the fight. Immediately he was pressured by his opponents. His own attacks were completely neutralized by the synthogoo inside their body that acted as a cushion while he was starting to get tired from having to dodge their attacks. He took a few minor bruises before seeing his opportunity, the fight had come back to the doorway and he could see one of his shuriken lying on the ground. He pulled back from the fight after dodging another attack and rushed toward it. However he didn't think about the amount of goo sprayed on the floor that made him lose his balance. The synthodrones chose that moment to attack, one from each side rushed toward him aiming for their arms to collide with his head in the middle resulting of him ending up in the middle of two powerful lariats. "If I take this I'm done for." He thought. He managed to secure a footing at the last second and jumped toward the shuriken, almost dodging the attack. Almost. His left arm still ended up at the worst possible place which sent a brutal shockwave of pain in his body. He brutally fell on the ground, his arm out of commission as the last synthodrones were coming for the finishing blow.

He waited until the last moment before throwing the sharp throwing star hidden in his right hand puncturing the two synthodrones in one swift throw.

He waited a while for the pain to die out, hoping no one would come and find him. No one came, after a few minutes he felt like he could move again even though fighting with his left arm was impossible. "And I'm supposed to take on Shego in this state?" He thought, "Lucky her, she won't have a lot of work to do."

He stood up and resumed his walk toward the control room.

The students of Middleton high had stopped cheering, the state Ron was in was enough to make anyone, even Bonnie, shut his mouth. Everyone was impressed by Ron's display of skill but also scared for his next fight. Kim especially knew he stood no chance against Shego in the state he was in.

-"Come on Ron, wait a bit more." Monique said with tears in her eyes as she witnessed the state her friend was in "Rest a bit more, you can't go on like this."

-"Yeah, it's ok you did enough for now" Penny said softly as she watched the clock, "you don't have to go on like this, you still have some time."

Unfortunately for them, Ron never heard about the midnight deadline Drakken had set and he kept going forward without taking any time to rest even though he really could use it.

Back at the control room Drakken was furious "How did this useless buffoon managed to take care of my synthodrones? Does he really understand the amount of work I put into this? Now he is almost here."

-"Relax Dr D." Shego said as she stepped toward the door "Did you see the state he was in? He will fall down with just a push, no need to be scared about that." She opened the door. "I will handle this now, from sidekick to sidekick." She licked her lips as she left the room "You'd better be prepared, Stoppable because I'm not kind enough to go easy on you."


	4. Chapter 4 : Resolution

The control room was in sight when a snarky voice interrupted Ron as he was heading toward it.

-"You sure made a ruckus here, sidekick." Shego said as she stepped out of the shadow to face her opponent.

Ron had a sad laugh. "Haha, I was hoping I could bypass you and head straight for Drakken. I guess I'm out of luck."

-"Pretty much," Shego replied as she took her fighting stance. "Before we start, you mind telling me how you managed to step up like this? Beating both the ninja Drakken hired and his synthodrones is no small feat really."

Ron thought about Yamanouchi and his training here, no way he could tell that to Shego. "Sorry, not happening." He replied as he prepared for a fight.

-Bah..." Shego said with a smile, "I just have to make you tell me after I crush you."

She leaped forward, igniting her claws, her strike heading for Ron's chest. He tried to dodge, unfortunately he was a bit late and the attack hit his already damaged left arm. He winced from the pain as he stumbled backward, trying to think of something that could give him the edge.

However Shego wasn't going to let that happen. She was stronger, faster and much more skilled than him. Ultimately he started to slow down from the fatigue and Shego's claws started to leave bloody cuts on his chest, arms and face.

She pulled back and Ron took this opportunity to gather some strength by controlling his breath.

-"Too bad you were already hurt by the time you got here, if you had been at 100% it would have been even more fun. Not that you would have had any chance of defeating me." Shego said with her usual sarcastic tone but Ron could feel something else coming from here, something that looked like… regret?

"Of course," he thought "Shego yearn for strong opponents, her fights with Kim were probably the highlights of her villain life so she must be kinda disappointed that Drakken's plan took out all her serious opponents."

-"Well." She said, "That was fun but I don't think you can entertain me anymore." She leaped toward him "Time to wrap things up."

He resumed his dodging, trying to find a way to counter attack but found nothing. "So this is it?" he thought as his will started to break "I guess I really couldn't do better… gotta leave it to…"

He delivered an upper that forced Shego to back off, "Leave it to who?" He thought "If I lose it's all over. I won't give up before giving everything I have."

-"Oh" Shego seemed a bit surprised "Still got a bit of strength in you? Let's remedy to this." She charged forward.

He kept on dodging her blows by a hair's breadth, "I have to win!" he kept thinking "I have to win! I HAVE to WIN" He took a misstep, Shego pressed her advantage "You're mine!" She roared as her claws headed for his last valid arm. Ron closed his eyes waiting for the pain.

*Clang* The only thing he heard was the sound of Shego's hand meeting metal.

As he opened his eyes he could see Shego's hand stopped by a shield. A very familiar shield that was surrounded by a warm blue glow.

-"What the…" Shego started. Ron saw the opportunity and took it. He pushed away Shego's hand with the lotus blade in her shield form and started fighting back. "I've got to finish it now." He thought "If she regains her composure I'm done for." He kept pushing Shego back, mixing hits with his shield and kicks, trying to find the opening for a decisive blow. As a low kick threw Shego off balance he jumped forward, trying to finish it.

Shego saw him coming, flared her hands and threw a plasma blast at him. Ron had no choice but to take cover behind the lotus blade in order not to be blown away. However Shego had still managed to push him back.

-"Damn you really did a number on me." She paused for a while "That was a nice try, Ron."

Ron felt strange, did Shego just call him by his name? "What, no more *buffoon* or *sidekick* or *Kimmie's lapdog*?"

Shego smirked. "Nah, you're at least worth me remembering your name." She took her stance again, "However you must have realized that you have no chance of winning this now that you used your trump card."

-"I still have to try." He replied

-"Why?" She asked "You saw how Kimmie reacted when you came to warn her, you know how the guys at your school treat you. Why do you go to such lengths for everyone?"

Ron stopped for a second before laughing sadly.

-"What's so funny?" Shego asked in a low growl.

-"No it's just" he started "You used to be part of a superhero team that fought to save a city much bigger than Middleton and I am the lone bullied guy no one wants to be with. I thought that it would have been very easy for us to stand in the other's shoes right now."

Shego smiled "Yeah, maybe." She replied "Ready to finish this?"

"She is convinced she can't lose" he thought "maybe I can use that, and she doesn't know everything about the lotus blade yet."

Shego charged at him her hands still flared and started striking furiously, Ron kept hiding behind the lotus blade, waiting for an opportunity "Kim always won against her? Damn, that makes her even more amazing."

Shego's attacks intensified and Ron couldn't dodge them all. First he took a vicious blow to his midsection which made his head rise from under the shield. Shego saw this opportunity and charged at him, her claws went straight for his face and Ron managed to dodge at the very last second, the claws however still grazed his right eye opening a deep cut at the corner. Ron finally counter attacked. He delivered a sweeping blow to Shego's midsection with his shield, however Shego managed to back away.

"Now!" he thought "Lotus blade, change." The shield started to glow and the next second, Ron was holding a Bô staff that hit Shego square in the guts. Shego winced from the pain caused by the unexpected blow and Ron followed through by a powerful hit to her temple."

Shego's body went limp and she fell to the ground, completely unconscious.

Ron just stood here, dumbfounded, "I did it." He said lowly. "I did it!" he roared.

Back at Middleton the students from Middleton high went wild. The whole school who was dead silent during Ron's fight with Shego suddenly started cheering for the one they kept calling a loser just a day earlier.

-"He's gonna do it, Kim" Monique kept saying as she grabbed Kim's arm, "Our boy's gonna do it."

Kim stayed silent, she felt like she couldn't cheer for Ron like the others after what she did to him earlier. "Go for it, Ron." She thought "Show them the hero you really are, you can do it."

In the control room, Drakken was furious. "How did Shego manage to lose to the buffoon, she's so useless, always losing to Kim Possible and now failing me when I manage to start my perfect plan."

He looked at the countdown, "5 minutes until the activation of the diablos. I have to stop him now." He thought "How exactly could I…" a smile came on his face "Of course!" he said "I still have him." As Ron entered the room Drakken had finished to give his instructions. There was no need to fret, he still had his ace in the hole after all.

-"Here you are, Buffoon." He started with a confident look on his face. "I gotta say, you really impressed me, defeating my ninjas, my synthodrones and Shego was definitely unexpected."

-"Drakken," Ron said "You're going to desactivate your Diablos right now."

-"And why would I do that?" He asked

Ron had a wicked smile on his face "We both know you can't handle fights, that's why you need Shego. You really want to find out if you could win against me?"

-"Oh there is no need for this." Drakken said "You see, always keeping you ace hidden until the best moment is a basic strategy don't you think?"

Ron froze "His ace? What the hell is he talking about? I already took care of Shego." He thought "You're bluffing." Ron said as he resumed walking toward Drakken.

-"Really?" Drakken replied "Why don't we check it out then?" He took a remote control and activated the big screen in the room, showing a great view of the Middleton captives.

-"What the hell are you talking about?" Ron asked

Back at Middleton, the students were wondering how long it would take before they were released. Kim was standing next to Monique and Eric. "Drakken isn't good at fighting, it probably won't take long before he surrenders." She said.

-"I'm glad it ended well." Eric said as he embraced Kim from behind

-"Me too." Kim said trying to turn around to return her boyfriend's hug. However she found herself incapable of moving because of the iron grip Eric had on her.

-"Eric you're hurting me" She said.

-"Sorry," he said as his arm went from her waist to her neck, almost chocking her. "But I can't let that buffoon ruin everything. After all the work it took to put that plan in motion."

-"Eric…" She said, completely at his mercy, not understanding why this was happening. "Why?..."

-"No." he replied, as his clothes started changing to a red and black jumpsuit "Not Eric, synthodrone 901."

Kim as well as the entire student body froze when they heard those words.

-"What do you mean?" Kim asked "Stop joking, Eric this isn't…"

-"You think I'm joking?" Eric said as he took a firmer grip on Kim's throat "How about you stop talking and start listening?" he said "I've been created by Dr Drakken for a specific purpose, my goal was to be the perfect charmer in order to get the teen hero Kim Possible to fall for me, resulting in her staying away from hero duty during her *big prom night* and also creating a rift between her and her sidekick, Ron Stoppable. All this to make sure Dr Drakken's plan finally come to fruition."

He paused for a while, letting his words sink in the mind of the people listening. "However even though those objectives of mine have been accomplished flawlessly we still underestimated the strength, will and skill of your sidekick, that's why now that you're in my power, he has no choice but to stay put, waiting for the world to end. After all, how could a goody two shoes like him be able to endure his best friend being hurt?"

-"You're lying…" Kim said lowly, "YOU'RE LYING!" She shouted as tears began to fill her eyes "Why? Why do I still drag him down?" She thought, "He managed to do the unthinkable and I get in his way just because I got blinded by a hottie…"

-"So," Eric resumed "How about we resume watching what will happen. I'm sure it will be very interesting."

Back at the Bueno Nacho HQ Drakken couldn't stop laughing, "This is so funny. The famous teen hero getting in the way of his sidekick saving the world, good title for a drama don't you think?"

-"Funny? This is the only word you found?" Ron said in a growl "You mean you sent a synthodrone specifically to destroy my relationship with my best friend since pre-K AND THE ONLY WORD YOU CAN COME UP WITH IS FUNNY?" He roared!

-"No, No, I didn't destroy anything." Drakken replied with a smile, "I can't do that, the only one who could destroy this relationship were you two and I can say Kim Possible did a pretty good job here." He glanced at the clock. "3 minutes left, gotta buy more time." He thought "So, now drop your weapon and surrender sidekick."

Ron just stood here for almost a full minute, doing nothing almost as if he was lost in his thought before finally saying. "I see…" The lotus blade in his hand started to glow and transformed into a bog one hand sword.

-"What are you doing?" Drakken said with fear in his voice "I said drop your…"

-"Whatever I do I won't be able to save Kim, so I choose saving the world over her. Because that's what she would want me to do. However I'll be sure to make her passing to the other world with YOUR DEATH" he said as he closed the gap and raised the sword "Any last words?"

-"Please, no," Drakken pleaded, completely scared "I will do whatever you want, just please don't kill meeeeeee."

Back at Middleton the students were completely shocked by Ron's change of attitude after Drakken's threat. It was so cold blooded that it didn't look like Ron at all. Well the same could be said about the fighting skills he had displayed earlier.

-"He's mad! How can he take this decision?" Eric said, completely shocked just like the others.

-"What's so surprising?" Kim asked with a little smile "When you are a hero you must be prepared to something like that, Ron knows it and he knows I know it too. You won't be able to sway him like that."

-"This doesn't make sense. This isn't like him. According to our evaluation he shouldn't…" Eric said

Eric was so shaken by Ron's declaration that his grip loosened up for a moment and Kim didn't let that opportunity go to waste. She quickly slipped away from Eric's grasp and swept his legs making him fall to the ground, she jump on top of him and completely immobilized him.

-"What? What just…" Eric said.

-"You see," Kim said, "That's how you make a good bluff."

Back at the Bueno Nacho's HQ

-"A bluff." Drakken asked, completely floored, "How could I fall for that? No, besides that it was completely reckless, if Kim Possible hadn't understood you were bluffing Eric would have simply killed her on the spot without her being able to escape. How did you manage to warn her?"

-"I didn't," Ron said "I just knew Kim would manage to do it."

-"How?" Drakken asked, "You couldn't possibly know…"

-"How much time do you think Kim and I spent together?" Ron asked "When you spend so much time with someone else you end up knowing how they think. I just knew Kim would see through my bluff, that's all."

-"And what if you were wrong?" Drakken said "You were going to have her killed."

-"Didn't you listen to Kim earlier?" Ron replied "That's part of the job. Someone like you who just stays away from the fight can't possibly understand that. Every time we face you and Shego we put our life on the line, this isn't any different, and without this kind of resolution Kim and I wouldn't be able to do what we do." He sent a vicious kick to Drakken's body which sent him flying across the room. "So, do you want to stop the diablos before or after I beat the shit out of you?" he asked.

At Middleton the monsters that had trapped the students started to slowly transform into toys again, freeing the students in the process.

"It's over." Bonnie muttered "It's over!" She roared.

"Yeah!" Brick shouted "Stoppable for the win!"

Bonnie looked angrily at her boyfriend before Tara put her hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Bonnie." She said "you have to admit, Ron was pretty awesome tonight."

Bonnie sighted. "Yeah, you're right." She looked toward the diablo toys on the ground, testimony of the horror they went through tonight "Ron Stoppbale is amazing." She finally said.


	5. Chapter 5 : Decision under a night sky

Global Justice had sent their agent at the Bueno Nacho HQ right after the giant robot had suddenly become a harmless toy again. They managed to put Drakken, Shego and all their goons into custody as well as start treating Ron's injuries. His injuries were indeed serious. He had a few broken ribs due to his encounter with the sumo ninja and his left arm was going to need emergency treatment after what Drakken's synthodrones put it through. But the damage from his fight against Shego was, by far, the most severe.

The cut near his right eye was bleeding so much that the doctors were at first scared that he might lose it, Shego's claws had also dug pretty deep into his chest, which would leave three scars across his torso, He had also been partially burnt by Shego's plasma when she had gotten serious during their fight leaving his right leg badly burnt. Adding to that the multiple cuts, bruises and fractured bones which could be seen, the doctor had wondered after watching the tapes of the "Bueno Nacho Incident" how Ronald Dean Stoppable had managed to stand up and chase after Drakken after his fight with Shego when his body was in such a pitiful state.

His injuries were so severe that he immediately got transferred to the Middleton Hospital as soon as the Global Justice's medics made sure he could be moved without danger.

Dr Director was supervising the aftermath of the "Diablo Incident" at the Global Justice's HQ when she heard the report of her agents that had been sent to the Bueno Nacho HQ.

When the Diablos had transformed into giant robots and completely paralyzed Global Justice, Betty had instantly known she would have to rely on team Possible to turn things around. She had sent her team in order to check Kim and Ron's condition after what had probably been their harshest battle.

When she heard that her agents couldn't manage to locate Kim inside the Bueno Nacho HQ, her first thought had been that Drakken and Shego had finally managed to stop Kim definitely. However, as she listened to her agent's report and was receiving the tapes of what had happened to the Bueno Nacho HQ, she couldn't contain her surprise that not only Ron had managed to stop Drakken's "take over the world" plot alone but that Kim was still at her junior prom and hadn't responded to a threat of that scale.

Due to the destruction caused by the Diablos she couldn't see clearly what had happened in Middleton.

-"Dr Director." Will Du started "Considering the events in Middleton, maybe we should send a recon team to assess the severity of the damage caused by the Diablos."

-"That won't be necessary." Betty replied "I'll be leading the team there myself, you take care of the operations here, Will."

-"Y… Yes, Dr Director, understood." Will replied, completely shocked as the head of Global Justice headed to the exit.

Middleton

-"So, Kim," started a sarcastic voice "Now, everything is going to be alright, the world is saved and your pathetic friend will probably get away with his life, although we don't know in what state. Well, considering what happened tonight I'm not sure the word *friend* still apply to your relationship with him."

-"Shut up!" Kim replied between her teeth, she was deploying great self-control to prevent herself from puncturing the synthodrone and his remarks were starting to push her toward the edge.

-"Anyway," he continued "Now that this is over, what do you intend to do? Keep going with your life like nothing ever happened? Trying to forget you were the girl that fell in love with a synthetic human?"

-"Don't act as if Kim was the only one you and Drakken deceived." Monique replied "You got every single one of us with this little trick. Kim might be amazing but she isn't perfect, ever she can be deceived, especially by those kind of low tricks."

-"Yes," Eric said with a smile "Especially by those tricks. You said it. And of course, Kimmie, you know why? You know why you were so eager to believe that your friend was lying? Why you couldn't see through this scheme until the very end?"

-"Shut up…" Kim said as her arms were shacking and as she was biting her lips.

-"Because," he continued "deep down you know a lowlife like your *best friend* isn't worthy of someone like you. Because you knew that someday, to preserve your social status you would have to let go of this thrash and trade up, when I came here you simply so the opportunity to do so and jumped on it. Because this is who you are. You can't deny it."

-"SHUT UUUUUUPP !" Kim shouted as she grabbed a near rock and smashed it on the synthodrone's head, ending his speech with an explosion of synthogoo coming from the hole in his head.

All the students were speechless in front of the display the teen hero had just put on in front of them. Kim just let go of the rock and walked until she found a place where she could sit.

Monique came toward her BFF, wanting to help them but Kim interrupted her before she could even talk

-"It's ok Monique," she said in a sob "I'm going to be ok, I just need to get this night over with." She sighed "I'll just wait for Ron to come back now?"

-"I get it," Monique replied before walking away. She knew there was nothing to do when Kim was in this state. Hopefully she wouldn't let that Robot's speech affect her too much, she may be Kim Possible but as she says she's also a "basic average girl", she shouldn't blame herself that much.

As the students were still shocked, Global Justice agents dressed as normal policemen began inspecting the location, collecting the Diablos and taking care of the people who got hurt.

Kim saw this without really paying attention, still deep in her thoughts, she didn't even see Dr Director getting closer as she was organizing the work of the agents.

Bonnie quickly understood who was in charge and walked toward the head of Global Justice, a determined look on her face.

-"Are you in charge here?" She asked with the tone of someone who's used to always get what she want.

-"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" Betty replied "I don't have time for a chat."

-"Then I'll get straight to the point." Bonnie said "Do you have any news of our classmate, Ron Stoppable? He's the one who stopped all this." She gestured toward the scenery of destruction the Diablos left behind them.

-"Ron Stoppable is being transferred to the Middleton hospital, his life probably isn't threatened but he's still in critical condition." Betty replied sharply before turning around, ending the conversation and looking for Kim.

The students started heading home after the agents understood they were only shocked and not physically hurt. Most of them called their family right away in order to reassure them. Fortunately due to Ron intervening before Drakken could complete his plan no one had been killed in Middleton. The only casualties were reported in the organizations Drakken had attacked preemptively. Even Global Justice had lost some agents during the night.

Betty finished giving her instruction when she finally located Kim. She started walking toward her and simply sat next to her.

Both of them stayed silent for a while until Betty simply asked "What happened?"

With just those words, Kim lost it. All her self-control, all her strength just left her. She started crying as she told Dr Director the events of the night. How Ron had come to warn her. How she dismissed him. The way she had acted toward him since Eric came. She didn't stop until she had nothing left to say.

-"You can blame me in whichever way you want." Kim finally muttered "I accept full responsibility about tonight's events." She sighed "What *Girl who can do anything*? What *Role model*? I'm not even able to trust my best friend about a worldwide threat, I don't think I'm even fit to be a teen hero…"

*** Slap ***

Kim's speech was interrupted by Dr Director's hand colliding with her face. Before she could talk, Betty started talking.

-"So what?" She started, "You're going to just sit here and cry because you couldn't do everything alone?" Betty sighed "This isn't your fault, Kim, it's ours. Not Global Justice or any organization's fault. We, the adults, are to blame for letting things end up like that."

Kim watched her with shock on her face. What was she talking about?

"Since when did a 15 year old girl become the world's last line of defense? You shouldn't have to bear this burden." Betty continued "We were all so blinded by your talent that we forgot that, in the end, you are just a high school student. And we started relying on you more and more, it was only a matter of time for something like that to happen." She sighed "You are a high school girl, no matter how much you want to help and save the world, and no matter how talented you are, it is also our duty to make sure you can enjoy a normal life, which includes your high school prom. Because this is Global Justice's purpose: for normal people to be able to live without worries."

She paused for a while. "Kim, I think you should take a break from the hero work. Before you say anything let me explain." She said "You started Team possible in middle school and you quickly were called for dangerous situations that should have been left to professionals, and since you were able to handle it, we chose to let you keep going. However, due to that you were never able to fully enjoy your high school years. How could you have enjoyed it when you had to think about supervillains and catastrophes? Now I want you to fully enjoy this, to fully live what's left of your childhood and maybe, if you still feel ready for it, you'll be able to start this again in College. What do you think?"

Kim didn't talk for a while, thinking about what Dr Director just said before asking "What if I say no?"

Betty had a little smile, "Then Global Justice won't give you anymore missions and we'll make sure most of the most dangerous requests are kept away from your website, and if it's necessary we'll shut your website down."

-"What?" Kim asked, outraged.

-"Kim," Betty replied "I'm ready to do anything necessary to prevent you from exploding. Look at you tonight! You pushed Ron away just because you wanted to enjoy a normal date just this evening. No matter how much you want to deny it, Kim you can't keep going like this."

Kim sighed, "I don't have to answer right now, right?" she asked.

-"Of course not!" Betty said with a smile, "You should go back to your place and get some rest."

-"No!" Kim replied "I'm going to the hospital."

-"Kim." Betty said "The doctors are going to keep him asleep for a while, you should go back to your place and sleep in a real bad…"

-"No!" Kim said firmly "I let him down earlier, I'm not going to let him face this alone. This time I'll be there." She paused and got up "I'm never going to let him down ever again." She thought as she was heading toward the hospital.


	6. Chapter 6: Confessions by a Hospital Bed

Kim headed to the hospital, still thinking about her chat with Dr Director. She couldn't deny what Betty told her seemed logic but saving the world had always been part of her life since she was in middle school. Which was precisely the problem, according to Dr Director.

She sighed, she would think about this after looking for Ron.

She arrived in the hospital, she couldn't hide her surprise when she saw the group of people who were already here. Of course, Monique and Felix would be here, both of them considered Ron as a dear friend so it made sense for them to be here.

She could even understand what Tara was doing here, ever since the Camp Wannaweep incident she had been less harsh toward Ron, even though she had grown out of her crush on him she still cared about him more than the other cheerleaders. Same for Zita who had dated Ron for a brief period of time. Yes, Kim could understand why these people had come here.

She was more surprised by the presence of Hope and Marcella from the cheer squad who never seemed to really care about Ron except when he saved them during the Camp Wannaweep incident. Same for Penny who also never seemed to care about Ron except when he was under the effect of the truth serum.

But the biggest surprise was at the back on the waiting room, alone on a chair.

-"Bonnie?" Kim asked "What are you doing here? People you know got hurt tonight?"

-"Yeah," Bonnie replied "A blond guy in my class who kinda saved the world tonight."

Kim frowned "Ron's well-being didn't seem to matter to you when you called him a loser every time you saw him at school." Kim snarled.

-"Am I really preached by the one who ditched him for a damn robot?" Bonnie said sarcastically.

Monique and Tara intervened before a fight break out between the two. No, fight wouldn't have been the right choice of word. She intervened before Kim could send Bonnie to the hospital.

-"Kim," Monique said "This isn't the time nor the place."

-"I get it." She replied "What about Ron? How is he?"

-"Apparently it's really serious." Felix replied, "But they say he'll make it, he'll definitely have a few scars but the docs said he should recover completely, given enough time."

Kim felt relieved when she heard that. They started waiting as the night went by without any news from the doctors.

Finally at the end of the night, all of them were exhausted and worried about Ron's condition. If everything had been okay the doctors would have told them, right? Just as Kim stood up to get some news, Anne started heading toward them.

-"Hi girls, and Felix." She started "Regarding Ron, we took care of everything. Now he has to rest in order to recover and let time do his job."

Everyone felt relieved, Kim felt as if a big weight had been lifted from her shoulders, if something serious had happened to Ron, she couldn't have forgiven herself.

-"Right now he is sleeping," Anne said "We gave him something for the pain and he should probably wake up tomorrow."

-"Can we see him?" Bonnie asked.

-"Huh, I guess you can." Anne replied, unable to hide her shock that it was Bonnie who had asked to see Ron "However, you should go one at a time, be silent, and don't spend too much time. He needs calm to rest don't forget."

-"Yes, Mrs Possible." The girls, and Felix said while Kim stayed silent.

-"What happened?" Mouthed Anne at her daughter.

-"Later." Kim mouthed back to her mother as she was heading toward Ron's room.

As the group arrived at the door, Bonnie grabbed the doorknob and started to open the door when Kim grabbed her arm.

-"What do you think you are doing?" she asked.

-"I'm coming in." She replied "What are you doing?"

-"There is no way you are going first." Kim said firmly. "Especially considering how you always treated him."

-"Well, you have guts saying that considering how you treated him tonight." Bonnie replied.

-"Girls." Felix intervened in order to prevent Kim from literally killing Bonnie on the spot "How about I go in first?"

All the girls couldn't answer anything to this and Felix headed in the room and closed the door after his wheelchair got him. Ron was sleeping, a few machines were disposed around him, probably regulating the painkillers and everything the docs used.

-"Hi Ronster." Felix said as he got next to him. "Don't get too used to that nickname though, I still think it's really dumb. However you really killed it tonight. Even Bonnie came here because she was worried about you." He laughed "Yeah, Bonnie worried about you. I know it sounds strange but that's true."

He stayed inside for a few minutes before heading out. Letting Monique get in the room.

-"Hey, Ron." She started, "I just wanted to tell you that, I am, you know… sorry about tonight." She paused "I was here, when you told Kim about Drakken's plan and when Eric said it was stupid. Usually I always tell Kim to stand by you, to not let Bonnie's damn food chain cloud her judgment and drag her away from you. But tonight I didn't." She took a breath "I guess Kim wasn't the only one blinded by that damn syntho dude."

-"When you appeared on that screen, I thought you were going to die here." She grabbed his hand "Don't freak us out like that ever again. Dummy." She let go of her hand and headed to the door. She stopped before reaching for the doorknob. "Also, you were really cool out there." She said as she left the room.

-"Who's going next?" She asked.

Penny stood up, walked toward the door and entered the hospital room.

-"Hey, Ron." She said. "You really freaked us out, you know? When these robots started to show us that you came inside this villain's lair I thought you were going to die. We all thought you were going to die." She paused "You really saved us all here you know? Me, the other students, the world, even Kim was helpless in here. And yet you did it. When I saw you beat those guys, you looked really amazing, not like Kim but in your own way."

-"So amazing that I'm sure no one will ever dare to call you a loser anymore." She sighed "You know, when you told me I had the most beautiful eyes at school I really liked it. And now that I'm next to you I can tell you that you have probably the cutest face at school." she gently caressed his face as he was sleeping.

"After that you tried to compliment me about my work for the charity I was really stupid. I pushed you away. And then I realized, you were the only guy who ever tried to talk to me about it. Every other guy who hit on me always use those old pickup lines about my eyes or my hair or my face but you were the only one who really looked at what I did. So, Ron, I hope I'll still be able to talk to you like that when you're awake. Sleep well for now, my hero." She said as she left the room.

As soon as Penny left the room, both Hope and Marcella entered together, Kim was about to speak but they interrupted her, "Don't worry, Kim." they said. "We won't be long."

-"Hi, Ron" They said when they saw him, sleeping "We just wanted to tell you that we're sorry about how we treated you when you joined the cheer squad. Even after the whole camp Wannaweep incident, when you saved us, we just stupidly followed Bonnie lead when she called you a loser." They stepped closer to the bad "You're not a loser, Ron," they said "You're a hero, just like Kim, you've always been, we were just too stupid to see it."

As they were close they took a closer look to his bandaged face "A really cute hero, to the boot." Hope added "totally: cute, nice and strong." Marcella continued "You're the best, Ron, she whispered in his ear."

They both left the room and Tara stepped inside.

"Het, Ron." She started "You look so relaxed when you sleep. I was really freaked out when I watched you. And then you kept winning and winning, and then I realized you have always been like that. It was the same when you saved us all from that fish guy, not even Kim could do anything about it but you saved us."

She took his hand, "No matter what anyone says about it, you're my hero." She took a breath "After that incident I wanted you to notice me but it was like I didn't exist, no matter what I did you didn't seem to realize how I felt. So I started dating Josh in order to make you feel jealous, but you didn't seem to care. No matter what I did I couldn't muster to courage to tell you about how I felt so I'm going to do it now."

She brought her face closer to his "Hey, Ron, I really like you know." She walked away "Next time I'll tell you when you're awake. I promise."

As Tara left Kim started talking "Go ahead, Bonnie, I'll go last."

Completely shocked by Kim's calm after tonight Bonnie stood up and got inside the room.

-"Hi, Ron." She said "You must wonder why I'm here right. Who am I kidding, you're asleep, you don't even know I'm here." She sat next to his bed. "When you arrived at school, you were already Kim's best friend. I couldn't understand what a girl like Kim could find to a guy like you. You were clumsy, you weren't a hottie, you didn't belong here, that's what I thought. Then as I kept watching you I started to understand how you could be Kim's best friend." She paused.

-"It's because you don't care. Girls like me, Tara and even Kim we all feel like we have to maintain some standards, like we have to behave accordingly to what people think about us, but you didn't. You just did whatever you wanted whenever you wanted it. And that's what Kim liked in you I think. The real reason I couldn't stand you isn't that you're a loser, cause you've never been, it's that you never really wanted to fit. You are a Kim Possible's friend who saves the world alongside her but you also keep a mole rat in your pocket, you eat almost everything without regard for the people next to you and you don't even seem to care about the school's food chain."

She sighed, "My sisters always told me that being at the top was the only thing that mattered, that I should rule everyone because I'm a Rockwaller and have to live up to the family name. But Kim was way better than me, not matter how much I want to deny it and you didn't seem to care about social status. You were just, you, you know. Sometimes I thought it must be nice to be able to do whatever you want without worrying about what the other think about you. I really was jealous about you. And tonight it was the same, everyone was sure you were just Kim's sidekick, no one expected anything, and yet you still did it. I really wish I could be able to do that."

She stopped talking for a moment, "I'm really sorry, you know. About how I behaved with you. Maybe when you get better I'll be able to tell you all that face to face. For now I'll just settle for this." She headed for the door. "You're no loser, Ron, you rock."

Bonnie left Kim and Ron alone, Kim entered the hospital room where her best friend was sleeping. She didn't say a word and just sat next to him for a while until she finally broke the silence. "Honestly I'm not really good at apologizing. I always did what I thought was the best, so sometimes I make mistakes but I honestly always thought every choice I made was the best I could do according to what I knew." She stopped. "Until tonight. Tonight, I failed you. You never failed me when we go on missions together, you always have my back and do a terrific job when most of people would just run away. And I didn't live up to it. That's how I thought about tonight at first. Then I realized it's not only about tonight."

She took a deep breath "The way no one ever remembers your name, the way everyone calls you my *sidekick*, the way some people don't even know you exists, it shouldn't be like that. We do this together and I know I couldn't do it without you. And yet I felt good, to be alone at the top, to be famous, to be recognized in the street, to be praised as a hero. In the end, I never really live up to you. Not only tonight but since we started to save the world together. You can call it pride, ambition, competitive spirit or whatever you want, tonight it almost allowed Drakken to win. I wanted to be at the top of the school, to have a hottie by my side so that I could answer to Bonnie and be the best. And Drakken knew that. He used it. And you saved us, you almost died trying but you did it, and I wasn't there."

She stroked his hair lightly "Dr Director is right, we're going to take a break, but I won't do it in order to enjoy my school life, well, not only, I will also do it in order to work on this. So that the next time team Possible ride again it won't be Kim Possible and her sidekick, it will be Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, two equal partners saving the world."

She let go of his hand "Now you should rest. There is no one else I would go save the world with, no matter what anyone says. Who cares if I'm not at the top, as long as I'm with you and the ones I care about it'll be okay." She headed out "I promise you, Ron." She thought "I'll never let you down ever again."


	7. Chapter 7: Reflections of a Villainess

A few weeks after the Diablo Incident.

It was a dark cell. She didn't mind, she was used to it. The life of a villainess is full of ups and downs, sometimes you can work things out and when you can't you end up in one of those places. Usually she would try to put together a plan in order to escape but this time she was simply lying on her bed, thinking.

She could understand being defeated by Kimmie, no matter how much she wanted to deny it, the girl was good, good enough to fight her as an equal. But being defeated by HIM? The one who was always running around, trying to escape Drakken's goons while Kimmie was doing the whole job had just beaten her? Sure he did use some tricks like his damn transforming shield but he had still managed to keep fighting. Had she become that weak? Or was he always this strong? She just didn't know. But even that didn't explain everything. Usually when she was defeated her only obsession was to find the guy that defeated her and get some payback, but strangely not this time.

This time she couldn't help remembering what he had said. No matter what she did, she couldn't get it out of her head.

"I thought that it would have been very easy for us to stand in the other's shoes right now." He said. "It's not like he was that easy." She thought, "Not as if he could understand…"

-"Shego," Drakken started "when will you finish to prepare our escape? I have plans that only require our escape to be started…"

-"Then why don't you think about a way out by yourself?" She answered sharply "You are the one who's supposed to be a criminal mastermind. Surely finding a way out should be a piece of cake."

-"Well… Of course, a genius like me could…" Drakken stammered, usually Shego took things in her hands in those situations and he just had to follow.

-"Then just do it, and leave me alone." She replied before turning away.

After some time when Drakken kept walking around, Shego couldn't resist asking him a question. "Hey, Dr D." She started.

-"Yes, Shego? Don't worry I'm working on our escape…" he replied nervously.

-"Why did you decide to become a villain?" She asked.

-"Huh, Shego? Are you okay?" He asked.

-"ARE YOU GOING TO ANSWER OR NOT?" She answered in a roar.

-"Okay, okay," Drakken replied "Huh, well, when I was in high school and later in college I desperately wanted to become a first rate scientist. So I tried to create my own inventions, of course no one could really understand my genius and everyone from my fellow scientists to the jocks would only laugh at me, calling me a loser, making me look like a fool and beating me. That's when I decided that I would get revenge on all of them. I would prove them my genius by making them and the whole world submit to me." He paused. "But why are you so interested in that?"

-"Not your business." she replied

-"But, Shego, we have to get away from here…" Drakken started before being interrupted by the sound of the wall being blown away.

As Drakken and Shego were recovering from the blast, a helicopter was waiting right outside the breach in the wall.

-"Are you going to stay here all day, my dear, or are you going to get in." said Senior Senior Senior.

Shego instantly took the opportunity and jumped in the vehicle. Drakken prepared himself to jump, only to see the helicopter getting away. "Hey!" He shouted "You're forgetting me!"

-"I was never interested in freeing you." Replied the old man. "The only asset I need from this place is her." He finished, pointing Shego as they got away.

"Asset." She thought sadly, "Yeah, that's all I am. Some weapon they pay for in order for me to be used by them. Nothing else."

Something flashed through her memory. Again, she remembered him, and what she saw in his eyes that night. Not only determination and fighting spirit but also, something that seemed to be… genuine understanding. "…You used to be part of a superhero team…" She recalled "…We could very well be standing in each other's shoes right now…"

She grabbed Junior and lighted her claws. "Drop me here." She ordered.

-"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Junior squeaked.

-"I said, drop me here. Didn't you hear? Thanks for getting me out of here but I won't work for you." She said.

-"And what are you going to do? If I may ask." Replied Senior Senior Senior.

-"That's my business." Shego declared as she left the vehicle.

As she looked at the helicopter heading out in the sky she couldn't help but sigh. At least Drakken had a few good points, she had some free time, holidays and more importantly he was respectful. Some villains wondered why she stayed with him instead of finding another villain that was better at his job and paid more. It was mostly because he was one of the few who didn't treat her like a weapon.

Sure, she was a sidekick, a hired help, not his equal in his mind but it was still better than being a damn tool.

Now she turned toward the road. "Time to get myself a ride." She thought.

Middleton Hospital

Ron was finishing the exercises that were supposed to get his right arm back in shape, he already managed to do the everyday task but crime fighting still wasn't an option for now. Kim had told him about her discussion with Dr Director but he still thought it was better to be reay for anything. Also, he wanted to give a try to some real training, the fight at the Bueno Nacho HQ had shown him how much he relied on Kim for a lot of things. He knew he walked out of here alive only thanks to a combination of luck and tricks and didn't want to depend on that again.

-"Goodnight, Mr Stoppable." Said the nurse with a big smile.

The way people talked to him had also changed since the Diablo incident, Kim and Dr Director had to handle the whole incident by themselves but the word had quickly gone out that he was the one that managed to take care of it. After that, the police had to post someone in front of his door to prevent journalists to disturb him but the people still behaved differently around him.

Kim was visiting him every day but their conversations were more than awkward, he could tell she wasn't proud of how the whole incident was handled and didn't dare to talk about it and he couldn't muster the courage to bring it to the table.

Felix and Monique also came sometimes but his biggest surprise was to see the girls from the cheer squad, even Bonnie, coming to bring him gifts in order for him to get better. The nurses and the doctors were also more respectful than when he usually came to get patched up after a mission.

"So that's how people treat Kim all the time." He thought after the nurse left "Not bad at all. I could get used to this."

He got on the bed, preparing to sleep, apparently he would be discharged soon and everything had been alright.

Suddenly he heard the sound of someone climbing on the wall toward his window. Nah, ow way it was that, his mind must be playing with him. That's what he thought until he saw a green clawed hand catching the edge of his window.

Ron just watched, in a state of shock as Shego finished climbing into his hospital room. "Isn't she supposed to be in jail?" he thought. He started to call the policeman outside when Shego interrupted him.

-"Relax, Ron." She started, "I'm not here to fight."

-"Really?" He replied, "Then what are you doing here if you're not here to get some payback?"

-"That's all you think I am?" She said "I know I try to stop you and Kimmie but that's part of the job, I also wanted to know how you're doing after everything."

Ron couldn't hide his shock after hearing this. "She wanted to know how I was doing?" He thought "Aren't you supposed to be in jail?" he said in order to get some time to think.

-"I am supposed to." She replied "The seniors busted me out."

-"And you're not with them"

-"I ditched them, I had somewhere else to go. Someone to visit." She said

"Wait… Is she talking about me?" he thought

-"Hey, Ron…" she started, a hesitant look on her face. "What did you mean when you said… Whatever you said when we were fighting?"

Ron was racking his brain, reviewing his fight with Shego when suddenly he understood. "You mean when I said we weren't that different?"

-"Yeah," she replied "Did you mean it?"

-"Well, yeah, I did." Ron replied "I mean, if you had stayed with your brothers we would have been on the same side, and if I had left what the other thought I was define me, I would have probably ended up like Drakken. So, yeah, I don't think we're that different." He said with a smile, "Besides, I still didn't give up on bringing you back on the right path. And neither did Kim."

-"Stop talking about that, it's not like you know anything." She replied harshly.

-"What? You think I don't know what it is to be left out just because you're different? And to find out that no matter what you do you will always be left out?" Ron said seriously, "If you want to talk about being alone, without anyone to really understand what you're going through then you came to the right place."

Shego looked at him with a mix of shock and sadness in her eyes. "Don't you have Kimmie?" she asked.

Ron sighed "Kim…" he started "She doesn't understand that, she probably never will, t's not her life, she the one girls want to be, I'm the one guys make fun of and bully. No matter how close we are, she will never be able to understand that fundamental difference, that's what Drakken used in his last plan against us."

Shego couldn't help but find a hint of sadness in his tone. "Then why did you became a hero?" She asked. "How did you stay that way?"

Ron smiled "Well, part of it is because of Kim, but it is also because I realized that no one will ever accept me if I don't accept what I am. I am who I am, and I won't change in order to please others, but it doesn't mean I will use the fact I'm not like them as an excuse to get revenge for what they did to me." He paused for a while, looking through the window "If I did that, I wouldn't be any different. I can't deny that is a part of me, you saw it when you met Zorpox. However it doesn't mean I have to let it define me. In the end, it all came to down to the fact that I wanted to be better than this. I didn't want to lose to them just because they picked on me."

He looked at the place where Shego had been a minute ago only to find nothing. The police officer opened the door.

-"Is everything okay? I thought I heard some voices…" He asked before seeing Ron's smile "Why are you smiling?" he said.

-"Oh," Ron replied "Nothing, just thinking about a good deed I did today. I really hope it helped."

Outside Middleton

Shego was thinking about how many time she had cursed these comet powers of hers. How many times she blames them for who she had become. "It doesn't mean I have to let it define me." "I wanted to be better than this." These words kept wandering in her mind.

She had come to Middleton in order to get responses, she just left with a feeling, the feeling that maybe, in her life, she had gone the wrong way at some point. A feeling that haunted her. Because her greatest strength had always been that she never doubter herself. Now she wasn't doubting her strength, she was questioning her choices. Which was even worse.


	8. Chapter 8 : Just a friendly chat

**Hello everyone. Sorry for the time between the chapters, I got sick and was too shitty to write something decent. Anyway don't forget to read and review if you want. Here comes the chapter.**

Kim couldn't explain the mixed feelings she was feeling today when she woke up. Today, Ron was discharged from the hospital, which was a good news. However, this meant she would have to talk about the prom. Now that Ron was out of the hospital there was no more reasons to delay it. She knew it was a necessity, her last conversations with Ron had been more than awkward, neither of them wanting to talk about what had happened.

But it happened. She made it happen. It was her responsibility to talk about it. Especially if she didn't want this to become a wall that would drive them apart from each other.

She wanted to believe this would be just a friendly chat. She really wanted. But it wasn't. She knew what would happen today, how Ron would react would affect their entire friendship.

And there was nothing she could do about this. Wrong. It was her choice to let him go alone. She made her choice back then, this was simply the consequence and she had to endure it, no matter what Ron would say she would accept it. Because she deserved it.

Those thoughts were swirling in her head while she was approaching the hospital. She couldn't help but think criminals must feel the same kind of things when heading to their trial.

She pushed the door open only to find Ron finishing his last meal at the hospital.

-"Hi." She started weakly.

-"Hi," Ron replied "You're here early. I'm not discharged until the afternoon."

-"I know, I just wanted to see you… alone. Before you leave I wanted…"

-"To talk about it?" Ron offered.

-"Yeah, kinda." She replied. "Ron, before you say anything, I wanted again to tell you how much I'm sorry about what happened. When I saw the diablos outside the prom, when Drakken showed us the footage of you entering his HQ, I was terrified, scared and I had never been so angry my whole life. Angry at myself, because I had betrayed you. You always stood by me and I didn't live up to your expectations. And I wanted to promise to you that whatever happens starting from now, I would never ever let you down again."

Ron didn't answer Kim right away, he just looked at her for a while before starting, hesitant "Kim… I had a lot of time to think about what happened during my stay here." He paused, "Kim, you won't like it but, this isn't actually new for me, you ditching me like that."

Kim felt like a truck just hit her at full speed as she heard Ron's words, she wanted to speak but he kept going.

-"Remember the day of the spirit dance? When I got locked in the janitor's closet just because you were too busy and excited to ask Josh out? And when you almost embarrassed yourself out of existence because you decided to go on a date with the same Josh while I was busting my ass trying to get that flower that would cure you? Every time a cute guy is involved you always choose him. No exceptions. This was the same thing, just pushed to another level."

Kim was frozen after Ron's declaration she wasn't expecting that, and Ron didn't seem to be finished.

-"Kim, the days before the prom you kept asking me what was wrong with me and I kept telling you I was fine. I lied. I was scared. Scared that the same thing would happen, that you would one more time choose your boyfriend and that I would be pushed aside. And the night of the prom it happened, when I left the prom I was completely destroyed. The friend I thought I could always count on had chosen a guy she knew for a few weeks over me. I mean, try to think about how I felt. Did she even care about me? Did she…"

-"Ron!" Kim's shouted was filled with sadness and despair, she couldn't keep listening about this, it was too painful, she wanted it to stop. "How could you think I didn't care…"

-"How could you think I would lie to you about something that important?" Ron replied, his voice colder than ever.

Kim didn't answer right away, she took a deep breath before replying slowly. "You see, it's not that I didn't believe you, it's more like I didn't want to believe it." She paused "Tonight was supposed to be my night, the prom night every teenage girl would dream of and when you came talking about Drakken, I just didn't want it to happen. Just for once, I wanted to be selfish and have my night. My prefect night." She had a sad laugh "My perfect night with a synthodrone. How ironic."

Ron kept going, "And here comes the second part." Kim froze, what was he talking about?

Ron took a deep breath "When I told you I had no problem with you dating Eric, I was lying. Not because I thought he was fishy, not because he was a hottie, but because I was jealous." He paused, earning a confused look from Kim, she still couldn't put the pieces together. "I was jealous because I knew no matter how much I would try you would never look at me with those eyes, no matter how much I loved you it would never be enough."

Kim's brain seemed to have stopped working. Did he really said "Love"

Ron kept going, "But I know what you're looking for in a guy. You want someone that can take your breath away, someone that can make your heart flutter like Josh or Eric did." He paused "I'm not handsome, mysterious, rich or anything that can get that kind of reaction out of a girl. I'm just your goofy, cheerful best friend that would do anything for you. And I know that's not what you're looking for in a guy. That's what had me down the whole time you were dating Eric."

Kim had finally processed the information. "Ron… I…"

-"Kim." He interrupted her "I didn't expect you to reply anything, I know how sudden it must be but please, listen to me until the end."

Kim nodded without saying anything, waiting for him to let go of the weight he had been carrying for too long.

-"When I had to stop Drakken by myself, I was terrified, the whole time. But everytime I defeated one of his goons, when I defeated Shego, I couldn't help but feel proud for what I did. I finally understood the adrenaline rush you get from missions. And I also understood that I grew more during this than during any mission that I did by your side. That's why I think it would be better for us to… back off from each other for a while not stop being friends or seeing each other but stop doing everything with each other."

Kim felt a rush of anger coming "So you want to burn what we have just because you want to feel like this again? You think staying with me will prevent you from shining?"

-"No. I think staying with you all the time will prevent us from growing. If we're covering each other's back every time then we're acting like crouches for the other. And I don't want that. I want to be able to stand beside you as an equal, and I won't be able to do that if I keep doing things the way we did it all these years." Ron started. "Well, that's only part of the reason."

-"What's the other part?" Kim asked.

-"I don't want to end up hating you." Ron replied slowly.

For the second time today, Kim felt like she was teared apart. Ron kept going "I won't lie, Kim, what happened during the prom night, it hurt me. Really deep, and if I stay constantly with you I will keep thinking about it and I will end up hating you. And I don't want that. So I think it's better for us to back away in order to save what we can save of our friendship."

Kim could see the resolve in Ron's eyes. She knew he wouldn't come back on his decision.

"Fine," she said as tears started to fill her eyes "but I want you to promise me two things." Ron couldn't hide the shock on his face when he saw she was crying "First," she sobbed "If something you can't handle alone happen, I want you to call me, because no matter what you said here, I will always have your back in the important situations, because that's the whole point in having friends you can rely on." Ron nodded, still speechless in front of Kim's display "And second," she kept going "The moment you think you can handle us being as close as we were, please tell me." She paused in order to wipe the tears from her face "Because life without you next to me, really lacks something. Something really important. And I don't think I could handle it on the long run."

She stopped again as tears filled her eyes again "I really need you, Ron so please let's hang out like usual, once everything is put behind us."

Ron didn't see he was also crying. "Yeah," he replied as tears filled his eyes too "We will, I promise you."

Kim left the room, closed the door and sat on a bench in the corridor. Ron just put his place on the shelf next to his hospital bed and sat against the wall.

Both of them let the tension leave their shoulders.

Both of them buried their face in their arms.

Both of them cried. One cried for the friendship she had destroyed. One cried for the love he would never know.


	9. Chapter 9 : Return of the Hero

Going to school alone was something truly new for Ron. As long as he could remember he had gone to school with Kim, except when she was dating a guy. Now he knew that both Kim and himself were heading to school alone, and it was strange.

Going to school alone had never been a pleasant feeling for him. It was the promise of bullying and loneliness. He couldn't remember the days were he felt like he was fitting at school.

Except when he was with her. He shook his head, this wasn't the time to think about her, not after their conversation. They decided to take some distance, she needed to grow out of her bad habits and he needed to be able to stand on his own. Something they had to do separately. Only if they managed to do that there could be a future for their friendship.

And more? A week before the diablo incident he would have answered without any hesitation to that. Now, he wasn't sure anymore. The actual Kim didn't ignite his love like before, probably due to what happened between them so he couldn't answer this question.

"Well," He thought "No use worrying about something that probably won't happen when I have what seems to be a shitty day ahead of me."

He readied himself and closed his eyes as he entered the school. He walked a few steps and stopped. Something was wrong. The school that had been filled with the sound of the student's conversations had suddenly gone silent. He opened his eyes. Everyone was looking at him.

Josh Mankey and his fan club.

The jocks of the football team.

Bonnie and the cheerleaders.

Penny, Felix, Monique, even Kim.

They had all stopped talking and locked their eyes on him.

Ron couldn't help but stare, wondering what was happening. Before he could open his mouth, Bonnie left her group of followers and walked toward him. Ron was too surprised to act before she started talking.

-"Hum, well," She started in an embarrassed voice "I wanted, to say, you know, on everyone's behalf, hum… thank you for what you did during the prom night. You didn't have to. Usually Kim is the world savior, and yet after what she did to you that night, you still went there and saved us all. That was truly amazing."

Ron seemed shocked. Did Bonnie just called him amazing? Bonnie Rockwaller? The same Bonnie that never stopped calling him a loser during all of his high school years? How was he supposed to react to that?

-"Thanks, I guess…" he replied "But you know, it's just what KP and I do. Nothing special."

-"Stop selling yourself short, Ron." She interrupted him "You beat a group of ninja led by a sumo, combat trained androids a mutated villainess who fights evenly with Kim and launch plasma blasts all that to stop an invasion of giant robots. This isn't nothing."

Ron picked up something while she was speaking. "Wait!" he said "How do you know all that? Everything I had to fight in here."

A look of shock came on Bonnie's face "No one told you" She answered "That blue guy had the prom guarded by his robots and when you came in he wanted to show us how you were going to be obliterated and broadcasted you to the entire school."

Ron just couldn't answer to that. "The entire school?" he repeated weakly. Bonnie nodded a smile on her face. "Hey, check this out." She said with a wicked grin on her face before turning to face the other students.

-"Come on everyone!" She shouted "Why the blank stares and the silence? This is the return of a damn hero! I want a round of applause for Middleton hero, Ron Stoppable!"

The applause that came completely shocked Ron. Never even in his wildest dream he thought about being greeted like that. He could see the entire student body cheering for him. He managed to find Kim in the group. She was applauding like the others with a satisfied smile on her face even though you could still see the sadness from their last conversation on her face. Monique was probably the most enthusiast of the student and Mr Barkin even joined the students for a while before remembering he was the one who had to stop it.

He positioned himself between Ron and the students "Attention everyone!" He started and the noise died progressively "As much as we want to celebrate the return of Middleton's new hero, you all still have classes to attend to and we have work to do. So get to your classes in silence and keep this for after class."

Ron joined Felix as he was heading for class while answering to the congratulations of people that never spoke to him before. As he joined his friend he was happy he could relax for a bit. This day was going to be a long one but not in the way he planned it.

Bonnie couldn't help but tease Kim a bit when they go into the classroom.

-"So, how do you feel being the one in Ron's shadow now? You think you can get used to it?" She asked, her voice filled with sarcasm.

-"Why do you think I have a problem with it?" Kim replied calmly "he deserves it after everything he's done. Not only at the prom but also for all the times he saved the world with me."

-"So you have no problem not being at the top? Not even some regret?" Bonnie asked.

-"The only thing I'll keep regretting is the way I handled the things at the prom." Kim replied with a mix of sadness and anger in her voice. "But I know what you mean. Maybe a few weeks earlier I would have resented him a bit, for no reason but now I realized there are things I have to change about who I am if I want to go forward, including my obsession with winning."

Bonnie couldn't help but being shocked by Kim's statement before realizing something.

"Does this sudden epiphany have something to do with the fact that you and Ron didn't come together to school today? Did he let you down the road after you betrayed him at the prom?" She asked as they were approaching class.

The look Kim gave her silenced her immediately. It would have sent Shego running back to jail.

-"That's between me and Ron, so mind your own business."

Bonnie could feel the pain in the redhead's voice. Whatever had happened between the two of them had been harsh. Bonnie couldn't help but be a little surprised, after the way Kim pushed Ron away at the prom, she had thought she didn't care about him. Now she could see it was much more complicated than that.

-"Sorry," she finally said "Bad habits die hard." She extended her hand "Truce?" She asked with a weak smile.

Kim considered the hand of her greatest rival in high school. A few weeks earlier she would have thought Bonnie was making fun of her or would have pushed her away out of pride. But now she had seen today and at the hospital that Bonnie was starting to grow up and leave her bad habits behind, the same way she was trying herself. Maybe that was worth a shot?

She extended her own hand and shook Bonnie's "Truce." She said as the entered the classroom.

Ron got inside the class and sat between Felix and Monique. While Felix tried to give him some time to breath waiting for the end of the day to ask him about everything, Monique, due to her being the school's gossip queen couldn't stop herself from asking multiple questions about "The diablo stitch". Ron however discovered it was pretty nice to be the under the spotlight and happily answered to any question Monique had.

-"That was so scary seeing you here, fighting while we were trapped but when you beat every single one of the guy Drakken sent you you were freaking amazing." She said as they walked out of class, "I wouldn't be surprised if some girls were crushing on you."

Ron gasped "Crushing on ME?" he said with disbelief.

-"Dude, you just saved everyone from an invasion of giant robots and everyone saw how you did it. You could probably ask anyone out and get a yes." She replied before watching him curiously "You're thinking about someone?" she asked.

-"What? No, no, no, I'm already shocked by everything that's happening to think about that now?" he said.

-"Okay," she concluded "Guess that'll have to wait for a while. Too bad." She thought. "Anyway, why isn't Kim coming? Where is she?" She said, completely changing the subject.

Ron couldn't help but sigh before taking both her and Felix to a quiet spot, "Better explain them everything now before they freak out." He thought before starting to explain them why Kim and he were going to be apart from each other for a while.

As Ron finished explaining Monique and Felix's face were filled with concern. For Kim and Ron to do something so drastic meant it was serious. Really serious.

-"What are you going to do about it?" Felix asked.

-"I don't know." Ron replied "I guess I'll just wait and see how it'll work out, for now."

The rest of the day went on, Ron got surrounded by everyone during lunch break and Felix had to call Barkin to make sure Ron could eat normally. Before the end of the day the school was full of rumors about Kim and Ron's friendship and the fact it was over. Neither of them paid any attention to it as it was complicated enough without involving more people.

As the last class was over and Kim head to cheer practice, Ron and Felix were preparing themselves to get home when they were interrupted by someone.

-"Hi, Ron." She said "Do you have a minute?"


	10. Chapter 10: Bonding with enemies

Felix was the first to see the girl coming toward them. He couldn't help but frown. Sure her speech this morning had been nice but he couldn't help but think she was trying to use his friend in order to get more popular. Especially now since Ron's friendship with Kim seemed to be in a slump.

As he saw his friend's face, Ron immediately understood who was coming to see them and turned around.

-"Hi Bonnie," he replied with a smile "What brings you here?"

-"Hum, well" she said "I wanted to know if you were free after cheer practice? Maybe grab something to eat?"

Both friends were speechless, was Bonnie Rockwaller asking Ron out? "Well, that was fast." Felix thought.

As she saw the look of disbelief on their face Bonnie couldn't help but think she had gone too far too fast "You see, I've been a real bitch to you over the years so I thought maybe I could start making up to you right now. I really was jealous, of the bond you had with Kim, of the way you didn't care about the others and just did whatever you wanted how you wanted. I really would like you to forgive me. If you think you can I really would like to get to know you better." She said "You could come too of course." She said to Felix.

Ron first was in shock after hearing Bonnie's sudden confession before relaxing as he saw her face that seemed sincere. "Sure, that would be cool." He replied "You coming Felix?"

-"Wouldn't want to miss it." Felix replied with the firm intention of protecting his friend against anyone who would want to approach him to take advantage of his new popularity.

As Bonnie left in order to get to cheer practice and Ron headed to the bathroom, he took his phone and made a phone call.

As cheer practice ended, Ron and Felix were waiting for Bonnie in front of the school. "Sorry, I hope you guys didn't wait too long?" She started, "So, where are we going?"

-"Well," Ron replied "We were thinking about going to Bueno Nacho for a snack, you sure you still want to come?"

-"Are you kidding?" Bonnie answered "Lead the way."

As they were approaching the fast food restaurant they could see much less people seemed to be inside, the public image of Bueno Nacho had been hit quite hard by the fact they sold what was actually weapons to children and families.

Ned couldn't help but smile when he saw his favorite customer going through the door. "Hey Ron, Felix, do I take your usual?"

-"Sure Ned," Ron replied "The usual for me and Felix and…"

-"A naco for me." Bonnie said "I can at least try the food you invented."

-"Okay." Ned answered "It's free for you guys, the least I can do considering you saved the city. I'll bring it to your table."

-"Our table?" Ron asked.

-"Huh… Aren't you together with Kim?" Ned asked awkwardly, pointing a table.

Bonnie turned her head toward the table Ned was showing only to see her longtime rival sitting as if she was waiting for someone.

-"You invited her?" She asked Ron.

-"No I didn't." He replied, confused it must be a coincidence.

-"It's not." Felix said "I told her to come."

-"Why did you do that?" Ron said, completely shocked.

-"Because I won't let you being stupid." Felix replied harshly "You think I didn't see how distant you were with her? The only reason there could be to your behavior is her reaction at the prom." He paused, "Well, the way she behaves when she has a boyfriend in general." He rectified "I won't let that ruined a friendship that last for more than a decade."

-"That's not up to you to decide that." Ron growled.

-"And what was I supposed to do?" Felix replied "Watch you ditch a lifelong friendship just because Kim is bad at handling both you and her relationships? Just for this you're going to cut that bond between you? Because if that's not it, it sure as hell looks like it." He took a deep breath "I don't know what's going on between you, but I can't help but think the way you're handling this is not only wrong but unfair to Kim. Sure she makes mistakes when she's into a guy, but it's not like you have the perfect track record either, no one is perfect and sometimes even if you have the best intentions you fail. Even Kim. And being a friend is being able to put those failures behind you because we care about the other."

-"You don't get it." Ron replied weakly "It's not only about this, it's also in order to be able to stand on my own."

\- -"So you think you need to throw your friends away in order to do that?" Felix replied with some anger in his voice "Behind able to stand up on your own doesn't mean anything if you're alone when you do it. I get your point of view and I get that you want to put some distance between you and Kim but what I'm telling you is that completely ignoring her like you did today is wrong."

Ron couldn't help but sigh, deep down, he knew Felix was right, as usual. He turned toward Bonnie who had taken a few step back in order to give them a bit of privacy, "Sorry about this." He said awkwardly "Even if it wasn't planned, are you okay with Kim joining us?"

Bonnie glanced at Felix that was watching them, the guy sure was protective of his friend, well it's not like she couldn't understand that, she was the same when it came to Tara, besides she and Kim had agreed on a truce so it shouldn't pause any problem. "Sure, let's go."

While every member on the group expected the discussion to go wrong considering the participants, they all had a pretty good time. Ron realized how he had missed talking with Kim during the day and was really enjoying talking with Bonnie, as long as she wasn't dissing him of course.

Kim was so grateful to Felix for setting up this meeting that even Bonnie's presence wasn't a problem for her. The two women even found out they actually had quite a few things in common, sure the competition was still here but the nasty feelings had greatly diminished.

As everyone separated in order to get home Ron couldn't stop himself from pulling his friend for a hug, even though Felix tried to push him away, laughing. Once again his friend had prevented him from making a huge mistake.

He headed back to his house, closed the door and enjoyed his last evening before his parents come back from their trip. He headed to the kitchen and started fixing some dinner. Nothing fancy, just some steak with potatoes as garnish.

-"Damn, that smells good." A familiar voice said behind him.

-"Bah, it's nothing spe…" Ron started before realizing and turned around, a look of panic on his face.

-"Relax," Shego said, a smirk on her face, "I won't eat you. I'd rather eat some of what you're preparing here. You think you can get me some?"

-"Shego…" He started "What are you doing here? Does Drakken want some payback? I…"

-"I said relax." She snarled "I'm done working for this blue-skinned fool." She paused "Watch out for the meal."

Ron focused on the kitchen again before processing what she just said to him. "Wait, you're not working for Drakken anymore? What're you doing here then?"

Shego just stared at him for a second before looking away "Can't you really just fix me something? I'm a bit hungry…"

Ron was still caught up in the strangeness of the moment and didn't really realize one of the most wanted criminal in the entire world was asking him to cook dinner for her. In his house. "Sure." He said "You okay with the same?" He got back to work as Shego nodded.

She looked at him working in the itchen for a while. His movements were fluid, precise, shard, focused, the way her were when she was fighting. He face was the same, a focused face with a smile lighting it showing the fun he had while he was working. Confidence in his abilities and happiness doing something he really enjoyed. The sight of him was quite mesmerizing, he couldn't help but notice how he had changed over the years.

The goofy sidekick that had fought her and Drakken alongside Kim for the first time was still there but his body had become leaner, some muscles were even starting to show, proof of a diligent training routine. The way he move showed also more confidence and self-control "He probably won't lose his pants anymore." She thought with a smile. The result was quite something considering where he started even though his face showed he was still the same gentle guy that followed Kim around the world.

-"Why aren't you afraid?" She asked.

-"What?" Ron replied.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" She repeated "I fought you and Kim multiple times, recently I was part of a plot to take over the world and I'm a freak that can blast plasma. And yet you're cooking me a meal as if you weren't afraid."

-"Because I'm not afraid." Ron replied simply "You did a lot of things Shego but you never broke your word. You promised me you weren't here to fight so, as strange as it seems, I trust you."

"Stop." She thought, "Stop being like this! Stop being the good guy that only want to help. It makes things much more difficult."

-"It's ready." He said as he put two plates on the table. The started eating in silence, only sometimes glancing at each other. Shego devoured her plate as if she hadn't eaten in days.

-"Damn that's good." She said

-"You want some more?" Ron asked "I can make more if you want."

Shego looked at him with obvious discomfort, she opened her mouth in order to say something.

-"Before you say something," he started with a smile "Think about the fact that I'm supposed to be a hero, by making sure you're full I prevents you from having to steal something later."

Shego looked at him like he was stupid before understanding his grin. "Alright, if you insist." She said as she handed his her plate. As Ron kept talking she couldn't help but smile at Ron's attempt to make her laugh. It had been a long time since she laughed like that.

They were interrupted by the phone ringing. Ron told Shego to be silent before grabbing the phone.

-"Hi dad." He started, as he was talking Shego wondered what kind of parents Ron had, she had heard a lot about the Possible's family but not a word about Ron's parents.

-"What?" Ron shouted in shock "But…" Shego directed her attention back to Ron she saw different emotions coming on his face. Shock, betrayal, anger, and finally acceptation.

-"Fine," he concluded "for how long?" he asked weakly "Okay, bye dad, love you."

He hung up the phone, he seemed to have lost the good mood he had before the phone call.

-"A problem?" She asked.

-"Nothing." He replied "Well, nothing that would interest you."

-"Come on," she pressured him "it's not like I'll tell anyone."

He sighed, "My parents were supposed to come back tomorrow but they decided to extend their stay. They won't come back before a month at least."

Shego looked at him "Do theyn do that often?" She asked.

-"Yeah," he replied "But now, I thought… After I got out of the hospital, I thought they would want to spend some time with me. I guess I was wrong."

Shego couldn't help but feel sad, Ron was probably the only genuine guy she knew and yet it was like everything was always going sideways for him. Bullied, parents never at home, Betrayed by his best friend, okay this one wasn't an accident, Dr D had done everything he could to break them apart. And it had worked.

-"If it can help," she started "I know what it is to be lonely. When I left team go I wanted to be strong, independent, but wherever I went people only saw me as a freak, a damn green skinned thing that was abnormal even though I spent years of my life defending them. Eventually I became a villain and joined Drakken because I didn't want to end up alone. No one does."

-"And now you're back to being alone." Ron whispered. Shego nodded.

Both of them stayed silent for a while until Shego stood up and headed for the exit. "Thanks for the meal, Ron. Don't lose hope, I'm sure in the end everything will work out for you."

-"And for you?" he asked. She froze. "Where're you going?"

-"Somewhere. I'll find a place. I always do." She said "Don't worry about me."

-"How can I not be worried about you?" he said "you ate as if it had been days since your last meal. You have no place to sleep and you expect me to stay here and do nothing?"

-"And so? Do you have another solution?" She shouted "Some fancy plan so that I could stay somewhere in a good house, with food and without fear of the police knocking? If you have one please feel free to tell me!"

Ron stayed silent a few seconds before answering. "How about you stay here for a while?" he asked.

Ron had never seen Shego so shocked despite all the times Kim had overcome the odds against her. "Me staying here?" she said with sheer incredulity on her face.

Ron nodded "You could use my parent's room since they aren't here, I still have money from my naco royalties so I could have you covered and the last place the police would look for you is here."

Shego still was in a state of shock. She stayed silent for a while before answering "Why?"

Ron looked at her in the eyes.

-"Why would you go to such lengths for me? You could get in prison for this or even lose your status as a hero. Why would you take such risks?"

Ron took his time before answering. When he started talking his mind was set. "Because," he started "During the years I spent with Kim I saw what isolation, loneliness could create. I saw that the people that were forsaken by society always ended up turning against the society and becoming villains. That or dying. And while I'm sure you won't die, I sure as hell didn't give up on helping you." He paused "Because I'm sure the girl who spent years of her life in a superhero team, living only to save people is still here. And I don't intend to give up on her. I don't know if I can get you out of the world of the villains but I sure as hell will do everything I can in order to do it."

Shego couldn't help but let out a sad laugh, "Are you serious, getting me out of villainy? How can you decide something like that on your own? How can you even be sure that's what I want?"

-"Because if that wasn't the case you wouldn't have come to me. Not twice." Ron replied "And yet you did, you stopped working for Dr D, you chose not to eat instead of stealing. I'm sure somewhere you're wondering if your decision all those years ago was the right one."

Shego couldn't look at him in the eyes, how could he be able to figure her out like that?

-"I know it because I had the same doubts. When KP and I started I wondered if it was worth it, especially considering how everyone treated me." He paused "If you go out there, you will definitely go back to being a villain, my offer is this one: Stay here and figure out what you want to do. If you want to stop, then we'll work together in order to find a solution, if you don't want to then you'll be sure it's your decision and yours only and we'll clash again in the future. In the end, it's up to you to figure out what you want to do. Like it has been mine to decide to keep up with the hero thing."

Shego stood here, in front of the guy that went out of his way to help settle down for a while despite the fact they were still enemies a few weeks ago. The only one in years that had extended his hand for her since she left her family. She sighed "You really are stubborn, you know?" She said with a smile. Ron couldn't help but laugh at that. "Your parent's room you said? Do you mind showing me the way?"


	11. Chapter 11: Just a normal life

Ron's life started to fall into a new routine. He would woke up and prepared breakfast for two. Shego usually stayed in her bed in the morning and was forbidden to leave the house so he would put her share in the fridge. The two of them knew that Shego had to stay hidden, after all she was still a wanted person.

He still wasn't going to school with Kim but contrary to the first day he now enjoyed walking alone to school. It gave him the time to sort out his feelings about what he should do. He was still having mixed feelings about his new popularity, his friendship with Kim and the way he could help Shego to get back on the right path.

At school, things had cooled down. You would think it would be impossible for someone who just saved the world from giant robots to walk normally, but he could. As usual, people forget. Sure he was still getting some stares, some praises and high-fives but nothing as exaggerated as on the first day.

The most drastic change had probably been Bonnie. Ron didn't know if the fear of death at the prom had managed to show her what was really important or if seeing him face death had changed something in her but now she was starting to become more mature. She stopped putting people who weren't at the top of the *food chain* down and also seemed to be smiling more. What was even more shocking was the time she was spending around him. Even Ron himself couldn't understand why she was seeking his company so much.

He was also seeing Kim at school and he had to admit, spending time with her felt good. Not as good as before the incident but he could see why Felix intervened, no matter what he thought, Kim was his friend and an essential part of his life and without her he just didn't feel complete.

He could see something was different with Kim too. It wasn't as shocking as what happened to Bonnie but he realized she was talking much less and seemed to focus more on what the others were saying, during her group work with Monique she encouraged her friend to put her ideas forward and tried really hard to not blatantly chose hers.

As a result, things were going pretty well.

Things were not going well, not at all.

Ever since Ron Stoppable had come back to Middleton high, Tara King had thought it was her chance to get closer to the blonde. Now he was popular which meant Bonnie wouldn't bother her about dating him and it was the perfect moment to confess the feelings she had for him since he had saved them at their cheerleader camp.

She had been completely shocked by Bonnie's behavior the day Ron came back to school. Sure she knew Bonnie would stop putting Ron down now that he basically saved their lives but she was completely shocked by the way she seemed to try to befriend him.

As the days went by, Bonnie kept splitting her time between her and their group of friends and Ron. Tara couldn't muster the strength to ask her what she was doing and couldn't bring herself to try to face Ron now that her best friend seemed to be part of his circle.

After a while she heard that Bonnie seemed to have asked Ron out after the first day of school. Tara was completely crushed by the news. She had never hidden her feelings for Ron to her best friend and yet she was making a move on him? After hearing that, it had become genuinely painful to finish the day. The weekend would be welcomed with open arms, she really needed to think about everything calmly and to rest.

However, things rarely go as planned.

As she was enjoying a day of relaxation, Tara heard the doorbell ring. She rushed to the door wondering who would bother her only to find her *best friend* at the door.

-"Hey, Tara." Bonnie started with a smile. "You up for some shopping this afternoon? I heard club banana got a new collection this weekend, we have to be fast or there won't be anything left. Hurry and grab your bag."

Tara didn't move, only looking at her friend. Was Bonnie really that oblivious to what she was feeling?

-"You can go alone," she replied "I don't feel like it."

-"Huh? Did you hear me?" Bonnie said "I said new club banana collection, hurry."

-"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tara shouted, causing Bonnie to freeze. "I told you to leave me alone."

-"Hey," Bonnie replied "I try to be a good friend and invite you and that's how you react? What's wrong with YOU?"

-"Try to be a good friend huh?" Tara replied, "I'm sure you've been a very good friend over the last week."

Bonnie kept blinking wondering what was wrong until Tara finally enlighten her.

-"You knew my feelings for Ron, ever since the cheer camp incident I wanted to date him but listened to you and your food chain argument. And finally, now that we are over this stupid argument since he basically saved us all you ask him out? Even though you know how I feel? Quite the good friend indeed." Tara took a deep breath after her speech in front a completely frozen Bonnie.

-"I didn't…" Bonnie finally started.

-"Don't even try to deny that." Tara said, "I didn't see it earlier but now I see clearly. You basically used every opportunity to get closer to Ron when it was socially acceptable for you to do so." She started counting on her fingers "When he got his new haircut and became popular you were completely jelling over him and Amelia, when he was rich you were litteraly all over him, when he opened that restaurant in the cafeteria you changed class and went to Home EC. So stop bullshitting me and say you're trying to be a *good friend*."

-"I'm not into Ron, first we didn't go on a date, Kim and Felix were also here." Bonnie denied "And, sure it's nice being with him but it doesn't mean…"

-"Bonnie" Tara sighed "I told you everything that was bothering me, now I would appreciate if you would leave me alone, I really need to rest." She paused, "And, as a friend, I really think you should start thinking about why you keep staying around Ron, but that's only my opinion."

She closed the door, leaving a Bonnie with a look of utter disbelief on her face and shattered certitudes.

Ron and Felix were just getting out of the arcade at the mall after a session of the newest zombie mayhem game that had been installed. As usual, Felix had achieved a much better high score than his friend and kept teasing him.

-"I told you it's because of your legs," Ron replied in a falsely offended tone "Because you can't use them your brain gives more to your hands."

Felix smiled, Ron had always been kind of a sore loser but recently he had softened, maybe facing death could really change people.

He prepared his usual reply that would get both of them to laugh when Ron suddenly froze.

Felix followed his gaze only to fall on Kim. With Josh Mankey. On what seemed to be a date.

Felix grabbed his friends hand and dragged him to the movie theater. Sure he understood the shocked state Ron was in, after all the last time Kim had a boyfriend it had ended pretty bad. As a matter of fact, Kim's relationships had always ended badly, as villains always seemed to be involved in the end. Both of her last relationships had ended with her nemesis trying to take advantage of it.

-"It's okay," Ron said. "She can date whoever she wants, besides with Josh I'm sure it's not another synthodrone."

Felix smiled as they entered the movie theater, convinced Ron was on the right path and would soon put what had happened at the prom behind him.

However they ran into them as they left the movie theater after their movie. And both of them headed toward the cafeteria area of the mall. As Felix and Ron entered the newest fast food, Josh opened the door of a much classier restaurant for Kim. Felix couldn't help but see his friend seemed to laugh much less since they ran into Kim and Josh. "Who could blame him," he thought, "that's not the kind of insecurity that just goes away."

They left the fast food, they could see Kim and Josh leaving the restaurant.

-"I had an exciting day," Josh said with a smile "You want me to drive you home?" he asked.

-"Josh." She started "I don't think it's going to be okay, between us."

Josh was literally speechless which allowed Kim to keep speaking.

-"You see, I don't like art. I just don't get it and I can't do anything about it. I also don't get most of your attempts to hit on me and I wonder if we really have anything in common." She paused "The last time I dated a guy based on his looks he happened to be part of a plot for world domination. I'm not comparing you to him but I decided the next guy I would date would be someone I had a real connection with. And with you that's just not the case." She paused "I hope we can remain friends."

Josh couldn't hide the shock on his face. Kim had always seemed to be pretty smitten with him except when Eric was around, she was always running after hotties, it was a part of her. Was it?

Josh could only force himself to remain calm. "I get it." He said "I'll get you home and we'll just stay friend. No problem."

-"Josh," she said "I'm sorry."

-"You don't have to." He said weakly "It's not your fault."

They both headed toward Josh's bike as their date had finished pretty badly.

Felix and Ron watched them from afar. "It's always the same." Ron said as he watched them leave side by side after what had seemed to be a pretty good date. "I think it's going to be okay but she always comes back to the hotties."

Felix could feel the pain in his friend's voice. "Come on." He said as he put his hand on his back "Let's go home."


	12. Chapter 12 : Unexpected Developments

**Hey guys, sorry to be late with the chapter but some things happened over the week that delayed the new chapter. Sorry again for the wait and enjoy.**

Ron headed home after leaving Felix at his doorstep, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about what he had seen today, again, again and again.

He knew Kim had always been into hotties, but somewhere he had hoped that after everything that had happened during the prom night thing would be different. In the end people don't change easily. Deep down he knew why this was affecting him so much. He knew that even if what she had done during the prom had put a damper on his feelings for Kim, these feelings were still here

Deep down he knew he had no chance with a girl like Kim, she wanted a guy who could take her breath away, a guy she would desire, who would ravish he and he was just her clumsy best friend since pre-K. He would never be anything else. He headed home and crashed on his couch, wanting nothing else but sleep and forget everything.

-"Rough day?" A familiar voice asked.

Ron opened his eyes only to be greeted by Shego's face. Her face didn't look like her usual angry sarcastic face, she seemed genuinely concerned about him. Could he tell her? No, of course not, that would be way too awkward.

-"Yeah, kinda…" He replied, "Want me to make you something?" he asked.

Shego looked at his face, the face of a guy would wanted nothing more than rest. "How about we just order something?" She finally said.

-"Okay." Ron replied as he let his head fall back on the pillows "your choice."

A few minute later, both of them were eating silently, Ron was still thinking about what he saw earlier while Shego, despite the fact that she wanted to know why Ron had such a look on his face, knew she had to give him some privacy, he had decided on his own to help her so she should at least respect his privacy.

They both started to eat in silent, Ron still deep in his thoughts while Shego while waiting. She had decided she wouldn't pressure him, if he wanted to talk to her she would listen to him but she had been alone for long and knew putting pressure on someone in this situation would only make him snap.

-"She was with Mankey." Ron said in the middle of the meal.

-"Huh?" Shego said, completely taken aback.

-"She was with Mankey," Ron repeated "on a date."

-"Kimmie?" She asked. He nodded.

-"I can't see what she sees in him," he started "I can't see what she sees in any of them, what she was seeing in Eric, in Walter Nelson, in all those…" he stopped

-"Hotties?" Shego finished. She knew what this was about, in his last attempt at taking over the world, Drakken had reviewed every single weakness of Kim Possible, her attraction to popular boys was the only real one they could use so they had looked for every single guy Kim had dated in order to come up with the perfect boyfriend for her. Eric. They both knew how this turned out, the rift tis caused between Ron and Kim was deeper any of them would admit it.

-"You like her," Shego whispered.

-"What?" Ron replied, looking embarrassed.

-"You like her," Shego said louder "That's why it hurts so much, the way she rejected you for Eric, the way she had a date with another one of these hotties, the way you'll never be more than her *best friend*…"

-"Stop talking as if you knew what you were talking about." He roared.

Shego was shocked, she lived here for almost a week and never had she seen him so angry. However, she wasn't the kind of woman which just stepped back, that wasn't in her nature, "So, what? You're going to deny it and keep crying in your corner every time she date a guy she likes? You're going to keep acting as a kid forever?"

Ron had his fists at his sides, an angry look on his face, he looked like he was going to jump on Shego but she kept going.

-"Why do you think Kim finds these guys attractive?" She continued "You think any of them would be crying in his room because his crush was seeing someone else? No, they would go and do everything they can in order to get her attention. Because no girl would ever want to date a scared kid." She paused, "Seriously Ron, look at yourself, where is the determined guy who went to fight an entire organization determined to take over the world by himself? A guy like that could be able to get any girl he likes contrary to the crybaby you're now."

As she said those words she knew she had gone too far. Ron just jumped at her. She was on the couch, her food next to her and couldn't react fast enough, he crashed on top of her. They started to wrestle on the couch, Shego trying to push him away and Ron trying to restrain her. Eventually, Shego's experience showed and she managed to position herself on top of him while blocking his arms.

-"You calm now?" She asked.

-"Never," he growled "call me a crybaby again."

She smiled, "See," She said, "That's the spirit. Girls like boys who can take charge, so if you want girls like Kim to pay more attention to you, you'd be better off working on this." She was still on top of him, his face still looked angry even though the anger was starting to fade, she found it kind of cute and couldn't stop herself from giving him a peck on the cheek. "Now, I'm going to bed," she said as she let a completely stunned Ron on the couch, "Good night, bad boy." She said in her usual sarcastic tone.

Ron stayed still for a while on the couch, trying to understand what just happened. The conversation with Shego, their wrestling match on the couch and how it ended. He decided to put that on Shego's teasing nature, she always liked to make fun of people him included. What bothered him more was what she told him before.

Why couldn't he be like them? Because he didn't want to, that was obvious, both Josh and Brick were considered as hotties at school and Ron wasn't interested in being like them. Why are them hotties, then? Josh likes painting, he isn't really athletic and good at studying. Brick is practically the complete opposite, he isn't smart or subtle but he's athletic and was the star of the football team.

Why these different people both were considered hotties despite their differences? He used to think it was about the looks but was it all? Shego's previous words came to his mind : "They would go and do everything they can in order to get her attention."

Determination. Initiative. Confidence. The reasons why people at school admired them were the same reason why people admired Kim. When these people want to do something, they go forward and do it. Brick wanted to be admired as a football player and no one could deny the hard work he put into becoming Middleton High star quarterback. He didn't know about Josh but he was sure he didn't become a recognized artist without any work.

He always hid behind Kim, always letting her choose what they would do, always following her. In the end, girls don't choose a guy who can't go forward by himself. The way he went to stop Drakken by himself, for exemple.

As he was seeing things like that he began to wonder if he could compete with these guys, "I'm not that much of an athlete," he thought "I'm not an artist and I'm not as good as Kim when it comes to being a hero, even I can see I managed to stop Drakken only because he was underestimating me and because I was incredibly lucky." He sighed "Something only I can do…" he thought as he went to bed.

Bonnie was still completely shocked by her encounter with Tara. She had never seen her friend like that before. Never so angry, never so aggressive.

-"She has to calm down." She thought "Me, in love with Ron, no way." Okay, that wasn't that simple. She couldn't deny that there was a possibility she could be attracted to Ron, he was cute, he was nice, always a gentleman. But the way he had always been like a lapdog for possible was a huge, really huge problem. Not because it was Kim, sure the fact that they hated each other for as long as they could remember wasn't helping but she couldn't really fall for someone that couldn't stand for himself or put himself forward. As a matter of fact the only moment Ron had put himself forward was when he saved them at Camp Wannaweep and when he saved the world during their prom.

Every time, Kim had been out of the stitch as she said herself. The only moments when Ron showed to be brave, determined and heroic were the moments when Kim couldn't act. Why was Ron so dedicated to Kim that he even restrained himself? No that was wrong, he probably wasn't doing it on purpose, it wasn't like him. He was probably so used to Kim being under the spotlight that he unconsciously did everything for her to stay here.

And she couldn't even blame him for that. Kim was amazing, even she had to admit it, the way she handled things was exceptional: school, friends, saving the world, everything seemed to be so easy for her that it could only create two reactions: admiration and envy. And everyone was a bit envious of Kim, especially her, everyone would dream to be able to do what she did. Ron, on the other hand wasn't envious at all, the only thing he wanted was to be able to be of any help to his friend. And it's probably because he admired her so much and because of the insane bond they shared for years that he did everything for Kim to stand out.

And that's why she didn't like it. First, because on the long term, this was unhealthy, Ron's relationship to Kim wasn't balanced at all even though none of them probably thought of it like that. Second, because she never had a friend who was at least half as dedicated her than Ron was to Kim, and even though she knew it was wrong, she couldn't help being jealous of the redhead. And last, because as long as Ron stayed in Kim's shadow he would never stand for himself, and she would never be able to…

"Slap" the sound of her hands hitting her face echoed in her room. "Stop thinking about this, Bonnie…" she said to herself "This isn't your problem."

But it was. Because no matter how much she denied it she was attracted to the blonde, a lot. All the times she dissed him at school were actually meant for him to react and stand for himself. But he had that strange ability to not let what other people thought get to him. And she was admiring him even more for that.

-"Stop that," she said again, talking to herself "Your best friend is into him and as a friend, it's up to you to be supportive and to help her, so you'll apologize to her and do everything you can to get those two together."

She finally managed to calm down enough to sleep, she was set and had decided what she would do, and nothing would stop her from helping her best friend to hook up with Ron. Not even how cute he was when he was laughing or how his antics always managed to brighten her day…

It isn't going to be that easy isn't it?


	13. Chapter 13 : Little Big Man

Ron woke up this morning, he readied himself to go to school, fixed some breakfast for himself and Shego and headed to school. All this time he kept thinking about how to become a guy a girl like Kim could be interested in. A way to better himself.

As he arrived to school he still had no answer. Until Barkin announced the tryouts for the football team were held after the class. "Of course…" he sighed "The football team." You could be the biggest dumbass at school and be popular if you were a member of the football team. Of course you had to be good enough to play but it was worth a try. Right? And if he wasn't good enough he could just quit. It would be just another mark on his "looser board" and his was already full. Even though since he saved everyone people were teasing him much less he was still considered as the same guy who couldn't do anything by himself and clung to Kim. Because apart from a few times where he stood out, he had nothing.

Barkin almost laughed to his face when he came to apply for the football team and told him he wouldn't even pull through the tryouts.

As the day went by, Ron couldn't help but think it was a terrible idea. He knew the way football players looked like, definitely this wasn't a sport for him. But it was too late, the whole school seemed to know he was going to participate to the tryouts and if he backed out now, he would be the guy who chickened out. Besides, he had battled battle hardened villains, he could handle a football game.

As he put on the protective gear Barkin had given him and stepped on the field he couldn't help but see how small he was compared to the other players. Barkin started the drills by making them run. So he ran, he focused on his breathing and what was in front of him and kept running, completely lost in his world he kept running until Barkin appeared in front of him.

-"Stoppable" he barked angrily "When I say stop, you stop. Do you even listen?"

-"Sorry." He replied instinctively "It won't happen again." He turned back convinced he failed. Until he saw the other players looking exhausted. He wondered why all these tough guys couldn't follow him and went back to his place. It's while he was listening to Barkin that he understood. Sure, they were guys who had been playing Football for years but most of their life was relatively normal. They had drills, matches, practices but they were still normal high schoolers.

Despite being only her sidekick he still followed Kim on almost every mission she did. This sometimes meant wander through hostile environment such as a jungle or the bottom of the see. It also meant they could be called anywhere and at any moment, at school, during the night or during dinner and they would have to take a plane to some strange places. It also meant fighting villains, a lot of them. Sure he probably wasn't as knowledgeable about football as any of them but when it came to stamina and the ability to sense danger, there was no one here that could beat him.

Barkin finished his speech, now they would start the real drills in order to find the position suited to them. Ron knew there was no way he was going to be a full contact player, the only positions open to him were at the back.

As expected his blocking was poor, his passes were horrible so quarterback was out of the question. Then he was asked to dodge the opposing blockers and try to go as far as he could with the ball. As soon as he took the ball he realized this situation was familiar. This was just another mission and the blockers were just some goons hired by Drakken, Dementor or any other villain they fought regularly.

Under Barkin's shocked gaze he managed to push his way through the defense until the touchdown zone. Sure Kim was better when it came to a fight but dodging opponents while going forward was what he did every single time they had to stop any doomsday device a villain had stolen or created.

The others students watched in shock as Ron was immediately selected in the team as running back and as Barkin announced this, Ron couldn't prevent a small smile from appearing on his face.

As he had done everything secretly, all his friends had been completely surprised. Both Kim and Monique chewed him out for not telling them beforehand while Felix simply asked him with a big smile if this was the end of their gaming nights now that he was part of "the popular bunch" after congratulating him. To his surprise even Bonnie told him he had been amazing, then he remembered the way Bonnie had started to be friendlier since the Diablo stitch and thought he shouldn't be surprised by this anymore.

Even Tara come to tell him she was looking forward to cheering for him during the matches.

As he headed home, he found Shego on his couch, "You're late." She started, "I was preparing to get out and find you."

-"Going out? Are you crazy?" He asked seriously concerned.

-"And how could I check without doing that?" Shego asked

-"Right," he replied "We should exchange phone numbers, would be more practical." He grabbed a note and wrote his phone number on it. "That should calm you down?"

-"Yeah," she replied before letting a wicked grin appearing on her face, "but you're still late."

He froze. "Sorry," He replied "I was at the football tryouts."

-"Football?" She asked, puzzled "You play football? You don't look like you do."

-"Well, I do now since you're in front of Middleton high new running back." He said with a smile, "I'll fix us some dinner."

-"When did you decide that? To apply for the football team?" She asked curiously.

-"Oh, that? Today." He replied "I thought about our little conversation yesterday and thought you were right, no way a girl like Kim would fall for a guy like me, so I had to step up a bit and thought this would be a nice start."

-"And…" She started "You like it?"

Ron froze, ever since his friends knew he applied for the tryouts it was the first time they asked him this question. Did he like it? "Honestly," he replied "I don't know. However I don't dislike it and I can't deny it's pretty cool when people cheer for you. So if it's what I have to do in order for people to stop looking down on me then I'm fine with it."

Shego thought about this while Ron was cooking. Sure she didn't think football was something Ron would truly enjoy, however she had seen a lot of people accepting to do things they didn't really enjoy only to be part of a group. Even she had done that: that was the reason why she had decided to become villain, to be part a group. So who was she to question his decision?

-"Okay," she said "now hurry with the food, I'm hungry."

Kim kept thinking about Ron's sudden choice to apply for the football team. On one hand, it was nice to see he was starting to assert himself but on the other hand it was so unlike him that she was completely surprised.

However she couldn't deny that he had looked really cool out there, dodging and running were really his forte and looking at his display was really pleasant.

So why couldn't she shake off this bad feeling?

The first game had started really bad. Lowerton had scored early in the game and the team was desperately trying to catch up. Now the game was approaching the end and they needed a touchdown to win. However during the whole game they had never managed to break through Lowerton's defense.

It was their final chance and Ron received the ball. As he dodged the first Lowerton player he felt something. As if his gears that had been rusty the whole game finally clicked together. He dodged one player, then another, and another and finally the path to the touchdown zone was open. He started running and saw a player coming from his left. He slowed down brutally letting the defender miss his tackle before resuming his run and entering the touchdown zone, sealing Middleton's win.

A huge cheer came from the Middleton's bleachers when Ron scored, the tension created by the long game and by Middleton high's struggle had been released at the last moment and the students went crazy, a huge applause came as Ron was congratulated by his teammates.

-"So that's what you feel when you're admired?" he thought "That's awesome!" he couldn't stop grinning like a kid as they headed to the locker room to get back to the coach.

-"Why're you all grinning like that?" Barkin said. "You think you did well? You guys barely got a last minute victory at home against Lowerton. Our defense must have been sleeping to have let them score so early in the game and to take so long to score only one touchdown is ridiculous, let me tell you all we'll have a lot of work to do."

He paused before turning toward Ron, "Stoppable, your defense is full of hole and you're still late on some of the team's plays so we'll have to work on that." He sighed "Anyway, good work scoring that one." He looked at the team, "We'll have a team meeting on Monday so you guys better be ready to work because I won't let that kind of crappy performance slide again."

Ron wasn't as enthusiast when he left the locker room as he was when he entered it but the smile of his teammates and the way they didn't stop congratulating him was a really great feeling. He knew he had been the smallest player on the field which made him a bit insecure and the way some of his teammates had looked at him at the beginning had been strange but all those worries had been blown away at the end. You don't need to be big to matter.

He was greeted by Kim as he left the locker room, at first he thought she wanted to talk about the game but she was wearing mission clothes and seemed ready for a fight. "Ron," she started as she was handing him a bag with his own mission clothes "Suit up, Global Justice is sending us on a mission."

-"A mission," he repeated not understanding what she was saying "I thought Global Justice wanted us to stop that."

-"They wanted us to stop," she replied "but I managed to convince them to let us keep doing it, however it can't be solo missions, we'll have to work with their agents and they have the final say about us going or not. Basically we're backup."

-"Ok…" Ron said, trying to assimilate everything as she was explaining "So what're we doing?"

-"We're investigating warehouses where Dementor is said to work on some scheme. Hurry, transportation is leaving soon, if we're fast enough it shouldn't take long." Kim said as she headed toward the black clothed agents waiting in the shadows.

Ron sighed at first but couldn't stop himself from smiling, he understood why Kim had done that, mission were a part of their life since they were in middle school and stopping so suddenly didn't feel right. "Here we go again." He mumbled as he finished getting into his mission gear and headed toward Kim.


	14. Chapter 14 : Back in the Game

As he was riding on a jet prepared by global justice, Ron couldn't help but think how much his life had changed recently. In a mere two weeks he had managed to save the world, become the star quarterback of the school and get one of the biggest villain he and Kim fought to think about stopping villainy.

As he thought of Shego he remembered of her reaction when he got home late and grabbed his phone.

"I will be late tonight, going to stop Dementor with Kim and GJ."

He waited a few minutes before getting a reply "I thought you and princess were stopping missions?"

He smiled at the nickname she was giving Kim and sent the reply "She managed to get us back in the game but we are done with solo missions. Don't worry, whatever Dementor got it's nothing compared to what we already did."

"Ok, be careful though, see you."

-"Who are you texting?" Kim asked when she saw him with his phone.

Ron had already prepared a strategy for this since the moment he and Shego exchanged their phone numbers, if Shego truly stopped being evil he would end up telling her the truth but right now it was better to keep Kim out of this.

-"Nothing, just told Felix I had to leave for a mission." He replied, "By the way, you didn't tell me you were talking with Global Justice to get us back in the game. It must have been really hard to convince Dr Director."

-"Yeah, it was but I really didn't want us to stop doing this even though I realized we had to slow down a bit. Also, tonight is the perfect moment to test this on the field." She opened her jacket to reveal a white jumpsuit "Wade made a battle suit for me, he finished the tests recently and I thought it wouldn't hurt to use it on this mission."

-"Awesome, too bad he didn't make one for me too," Ron replied weakly.

-"Ron," Kim replied "Wade already took a lot of risks in building a single suit, apparently it takes a lot of parts that would normally cost a lot of cash, he managed to get his hands on what he needed for one by calling some favors from the people we helped in the past but he could only make one for now."

-"I'm not blaming you Kim," Ron replied "I'm just a bit jealous you're the one with the awesome super suit while I get nothing."

-"Don't worry Ron, I'm sure Wade is preparing something special for you too." Kim said with a smile while remembering to tell Wade to build something for Ron as soon as she would get back.

The jet finally landed near Dementor's latest lair, the global justice team swiftly disabled the security system Dementor had set up while Kim and Ron were sneaking inside the building in order to find out what the mad scientist was up to.

As the team busted inside Dementor's laboratory the scientist seemed to be taken aback by the number of global justice agents who were accompanying Kim and Ron.

-"You are more than two?" He shouted "That's so unfair."

-"It's over, Dementor" A Global Justice agent said "surrender and follow us immediately."

The villain started laughing "Why should I surrender when I still have MY SECRET WEAPON!" He pressed a big button on the control panel which activated a laser which fired at the group.

The global justice agents didn't have the time to react but Kim raised her hand and created a shield that deflected the blast.

-"What?" Dementor shouted, still shocked. "How is this even possible?"

Kim couldn't help but smirk "Oh, that? Just a little innovation. How do you like my new battle suit?" she said as she was slowly heading toward the shocked villain.

Dementor's anger was now completely visible "Catch them, now." He roared as his henchmen entered the room and headed for the group.

As Kim, Ron and the agents were taking care of the multiple henchmen Dementor had hired, the mad scientist prepared his escape and launched a complete scan of the battle suit. "Stupid little girl, I'll teach you not to show your ace so easily." He thought as his computer sent the data about the suit to his backup lair.

His last henchman was brought down as the computer finished to load the data. He turned toward the group that had invaded his lair. "Now, this was entertaining but I now have to go." He said with a smile.

-"As if we'd let you go." A global justice agent replied.

-"I'm not asking for permission my dear." Dementor said, "Now I have to leave you Global Justice style if you don't mind the expression."

As soon as he finished his sentence the floor under his feet opened and he vanished in a tunnel just the way Global Justice used to bring Kim and Ron to their HQ.

As Kim and Ron rushed to the place where Dementor had disappeared the computer started a countdown. A countdown both Kim and Ron had seen a lot of times.

-"We have to get out of here." Ron said "It's going to explode."

They all ran to the exit, dragging the henchmen Dementor hired with them and barely got out as the lair was starting to burn.

-"Damn," Kim shouted "He escaped again!"

-"I wouldn't call this a complete failure." A global justice agent said. "This lair and all the technology Dementor created here is destroyed as he couldn't get anything out with him and it will take some time until he can be a big threat again."

-"Do you hear yourself?" Kim said angrily "He just escaped."

-"Miss Possible," the agent replied "Our first job is to ensure the security of the people. Sure arresting Dementor would have been the best outcome but we still managed to arrest his accomplices and put an end to his plans so we'll head back to the HQ. If you have any complaint you should take it to Dr Director."

Kim was obviously still angry but she didn't replied.

As they arrived to the HQ Kim headed straight for Dr Director's office. She came back a few minutes later still angry but not as furious as she was when she got in.

-"How did it go?" Ron asked.

-"Well," She started "Dr Director said I should leave the decision making to the agents on the field since they have more experience than us when it comes to this. She also said that everything the agent said was correct, that they were already tracking Dementor down and that I should stop try to solve everything on my own."

-"She's right about the last part." Ron replied.

-"What?" Kim replied "You're taking her side?"

-"I'm just stating the obvious" Ron answered "We're just high schoolers, no matter what we did before we should at least trust them when it comes to doing their jobs don't you think? Besides you have a tendency to try to do everything yourself. Remember the cheer squad when you wanted to control everything? Why you couldn't work efficiently with Will Du? No matter how annoying it is to have to follow them I think we could learn to be a bit more flexible don't you think?"

Kim's anger vanished and a playful smile appeared on her face. "Since when did you become so wise?" She asked teasingly.

-"I don't know." He replied with a smile "My japanese wisdom seem to come and go."

-"I don't know what I would do without you." Kim finally said as they headed out of Global Justice's HQ.

When Ron finally got home he found Shego on his couch watching TV.

-"You didn't have to wait for me." He said as he got in.

-"I just wanted to know how did it go with Dementor," she replied "You know, hearing the good guy's point of view since maybe I'll give a shot to being one again soon."

Ron smiled at that and started to detail their encounter with Dementor as he mentioned Kim's new suit Shego interrupted him. "Kimmie's got a battle suit? Damn I really want to fight her when she's got it."

-"It's nice to see that good or evil some things will never change." Ron replied, earning a slap on the wrist.

-"Just shut up and finish." Shego said with a smile.

As he finished and told her how Dementor escaped and how Kim's discussion with Dr Director went he could see Shego frown.

-"That's why I couldn't work for these guys." She said "They can't finish the job and are satisfied by letting the guy get away. You only finish the job when you catch the guy."

Ron laughed at that. "What?" Shego asked. "Nothing," He replied "I was just thinking it's normal you and Kim are so competitive with each other since you're so similar."

Shego's hand started to heat up and she locked her eyes with his. "Do you have a death wish?" She asked. "Don't ever say that again!"

-"Ok, ok, ok" Ron said, "Easy, I was just trying to lighten the mood," He stood up "Anyway I'm tired and going to bed. I'm sure we'll hear about Dementor soon and I'd hate to be too tired for this."

As Ron went to bed, Shego thought about what had happened over the weeks, she had stopped her activities as a villainess and had crashed at the house of the sidekick of her nemesis. Was this what she really wanted? Going back to crime fighting? No matter how you put it, there was no way she would be working for an agency like Global Justice again with her track record. That road was now forever closed for her.

She opened her laptop and quickly found Dementor's new lair thanks to her connections. "Time to get back in the game." she thought as she sent a mail to the rival of her former employer.


	15. Chapter 15 : One stitch after the other

**Hello everyone, it has been a long time but a lot of things happened in my private life. Good things and bad things and I wasn't really in the mood to write. I know it has been a long time since I last updated but don't worry I'm not dropping this story and the next chapters are going to be coming more regularly. Now, enjoy the following chapter.**

Contrary to what they were expecting, it didn't take long before they heard about Dementor again. A few days after they got called again by Global Justice, they had managed to track down Dementor again and they were requiring their assistance.

As Ron was preparing, Kim couldn't help but think about how fast Global Justice had managed to track down Dementor. She had managed to hear that Dr Director had started to reform Global Justice's ways after the Diablo stich in order for them to improve their ability to detect threats. Maybe these reforms were starting to finally pay off as they only needed a few days to track down Dementor. She grabbed her super suit and put it on before heading toward the jet Global Justice had set up for them. She was working with a different squad that she did last time, Ron was already here playing with Rufus, she sat next to him and started to focus on the battle ahead.

This time Dementor wouldn't escape so easily.

Dr Director contacted them as they were getting close to Dementor's new lair, Kim was busy listening to the usual briefing when Ron grabbed her shoulder in order to get her attention.

-"Don't you think it's strange?" He asked

-"What?" Kim replied, confused by Ron's question.

-"Usually when we foil a villain's plan it takes him a few weeks before he start over again," Ron replied "Dementor only had a few days when his entire lair with all his technology stored up inside and yet Dr Director says he's most likely preparing some grand scheme. I'm just wondering how he managed to get ready so fast."

-"You're just overthinking this, Ron." Kim said, brushing it aside "Besides, even if this is true, it doesn't change what we have to do. Foil Dementor's plan and capture him."

-"Guess you're right." Ron replied while still being unable to shake off this bad omen.

The rest of the flight was silent, filled only with the sound of the agents gearing up and the explanations of the plan. Global Justice had fully analyzed Dementor's new lair, no underground escape this time but what seemed to be a cave that could act as a backdoor.

They formed two teams, Kim would stay with the main team and would raid Dementor's lair, thrashing it and arresting as much of his henchmen as possible while Ron and Rufus would take advantage of their knowledge of a backdoor to wait for Dementor's possible escape and ambush him at the exit.

-"Why aren't Ron and I together?" Kim asked. "We've always done missions together, as a team, he would be a great help."

-"Dr Director's order," the task force's leader answered, "She thinks it's better for both of you to be able to work with other partners. Remember your horrible collaboration with Will Du? Dr Director would like to prevent this from happening again and she thinks the best way to achieve that is for you two to work with as many partners as possible."

Kim growled silently at Will Du's name but didn't say anything, however it didn't escape the trained eye of the agent. Both teams deployed and waited for the signal.

-"Possible." He continued "You're probably one of the most gifted agent I've ever seen. Your sense of danger, your ability to make the right call in a split second and your creativity allowed you to succeed this far. But you aren't strict enough, no one will blame it on you considering you're still a teenager but believe me, you still have a lot to learn. And while Dr Director thinks a lot of agents would learn a lot from watching how you do things, she also thinks you can learn a lot from watching us and especially agents like Will. He may lack overall flexibility but you won't find an agent as dedicated and as focused on his mission as him."

-"What about Ron?" She asked, "Did she also said something about him?"

The agent sighed, "Quite frankly, No one knows what to think of him. When you look at him and analyses whatever he does on your missions, his role is at best minimal. You're the on defeating the villains and arresting them. At best, he is a distraction at worst he is a liability. That's for the strict analysis." He paused "However, whenever Ron isn't with you, your success ratio is cut off by more than half. No one at Global Justice knows why. Dr Director always tells us that there is a part of the job you can't analyze or quantify no matter how hard you try, an unknown factor that can transform a failed mission in a success or the opposite. He is the living embodiment of this factor and that's why I consider him as another important asset."

Kim nodded as she turned back, waiting for the signal before stopping completely and looking back at him.

-"Hey, what's your name? I can't call you leader or captain all the time." She said

-"Chris." He replied smiling before his communicator beeped "Alright, let's go."

Back at the cave, the other team checked their surroundings. "Alright," the team leader started "I want everyone to take position inside the cave and stay hidden, we wait for them to come to us and ambush them as they try to escape." The small team of four agents scattered around in a flash while the leader turned to Ron. "Listen, I don't know why Dr Director allowed you to come for this mission and I don't care, so go sit in a corner, hide and let the pros do their job, understood?"

Ron nodded slightly as a felt a big need to punch that arrogant bastard in the nose. "When you think there isn't worse than Will Du, the universe comes and answers." He thought as he took position inside the cave, as the leader sent the signal.

Back at Dementor's lair, the scientist couldn't help but smile. Global Justice was so predictable. He just had to leak some information about his lair for them to come, like trained dogs. Well-armed trained dogs but still dogs. And Possible was with them according to his readings, and wearing her super suit. Everything was going as planned.

He had a big smile on his face as he saw the strike team move out. Tracking Kim Possible's suit turned out to be really useful. And this was just the beginning.

He faced his henchmen. "Hello everyone, as you know a global justice strike team is heading our way and we're fully ready to receive them. I would like everyone to take position in the room in order for our asset to work as efficiently as possible."

As the henchmen scattered, Dementor turned toward Shego "I have a different job for you." He said, as she lifted her eyebrow with a questioning look "There is an annoying ambush team that blocked our escape path, I want to you to go and clear it up."

-"Not happening, Kimmie is with the strike force and I want to fight her." Shego replied.

Dementor smiled. "My dear," he said "If everything goes well you'll have all the time you want to play around with miss Possible. But In order to do that, everyone has to play his part first. You understand?"

Shego growled but didn't answer and started walking toward the cave.

The strike team continued it's advance in the lair without encountering any henchmen. "That's strange." Chris said "Dementor isn't sending anything at us."

-"He probably kept everyone around him in order to make full use of any piece of technology he got. It would not be the first time he try something like that, everyone better be ready for a big fight when we get to him." Kim replied.

Chris smiled, "You heard the lady? Everyone stay focused." They resume their advance and finally arrived to the biggest door of the lair.

-"Everyone in position," Chris said "And don't forget: they are waiting for us."

They blasted the door open and rushed inside. As they expected, the henchmen were waiting for them but couldn't do much against a fully trained Global Justice strike force, the first henchmen were quickly taken out until more poured into the room and joined the fray.

Kim was having a blast, not a single one the henchmen could lay a finger on her and her battle suit was giving her the edge in any fight. With this, even Shego wouldn't be a match for her.

-"Are you enjoying yourself, miss Possible?" Dementor asked "Then let me show you, my new multi-function laser." He said as he pushed a few switches. "Can go from stunning you to tearing you apart. Ready for a demo?" the laser aimed at the group and fired. The agents jumped aside in order to avoid the blast and the fight resumed, even more chaotic now.

-"We have to do something about this." Chris said.

-"I'm on in." Kim replied "Cover me!" She said as she leaped toward the laser and Dementor.

-"You heard her?" Chris shouted, "Cover her, take care of these bastards."

Kim ran toward the laser, Dementor aimed at her and fired. She put her hands forward, creating a force field, protecting her from the blast.

-"Guess you weren't ready for that, huh?" She said with a grin as she kept heading for him.

-"As a matter of fact, miss Possible, I am." He replied with a smile. "You see, the inconvenient with those suits is that they leave a signature, like their own ID. Of course such amazing pieces of technology would be protected against any sort of hacking." Kim grew more uneasy, what was he saying? "In order to be able to hack this, you would have to fully analyze that signature with cutting edge captors. And since no one would be stupid enough to bring such a fine piece of technology near those captors it would never happen. Of course you couldn't know I luckily had such captors working in my last lair."

Kim froze. "Where do you go with this?" She asked slowly.

-"This is where I go with this." He replied as he deactivated his laser, thus leaving Kim free to rush him.

-"That was you last mistake." she said as she leaped toward him.

Dementor simply took out a controller from his pocket and pressed a switch. Kim instantly froze.

"What is this…" she started "It's simple my dear." Dementor interrupted her. I had all the time I needed to analyze this suit of yours and associate all of it's functions to this." He said showing his controller.

Kim's face suddenly turned white. "You can't mean…" she started before he cut her again. "I mean as long you're in here you are moving as I want you to, fighting who I want you to the way I want you to." He paused, "Now let's see how these gentlemen from Global Justice can fare against you."


	16. Chapter 16 : Unexpected Rescue

While the fight was raging in the lair, the ambush team was still waiting for Dementor and his henchmen to rush to the cave. As they kept contact with the strike team thanks to their communicator, they didn't have any reliable information on what was happening in the lair.

-"Do you copy? I repeat, Chris, do you you copy?" The leader said in his communicator. "What's happening over there?"

She didn't have any opportunity to hear the answer, she was so focused on her communicator that Shego completely surprised her, taking her out silently.

-"Feels like I'm a janitor." said Shego "taking out the trash without anyone noticing me."

The same fate fell upon the rest of the Global Justice ambush team. They maybe were professionals but Shego had managed to escape them for years.

She started heading back to the lair after taking out the commando before being interrupted by a voice. A really familiar voice.

-"So you're just going to leave me here?" Ron asked

-"Actually I thought you would be a good boy and just get away while you still can." Shego replied with a smirk.

-"Shego," he said "You know Kim is there, I can't let her handle this alone."

-"This isn't something you can meddle with." She answered

-"So was the Diablo stitch." Ron countered.

-"That was different." Shego replied "This time around I won't play with you. If you decide to fight I'll be serious."

-"So that's it?" Ron said "You're just going back to villainy, just like that?"

-"That's who I am. It was nice with you but it can't go on forever." Shego said.

-"Bullshit," Ron replied sharply "you're just a coward."

Shego's face hardened at the insult "Be careful with your words, Ron." She started "You might not like what follows."

-"What? You don't like it?" Ron answered "You're just running away because you're scared of what could happen if you decided to turn to the right side of the law. You are choosing the easy way out. If that's not being a coward…"

His speech was cut off by Shego's roar when she jumped at him. He was waiting for her and dodged her jump kick. He countered her slash with a jab to the face. She jumped back and threw a couple of plasma bolts at him. He dodged them and parried her following kick. Now anger had left her face, she looked just like Kim when she was training. Completely focused on what was in front of her. Shortly, he ran out of moves. He had to completely focus on his defense and make mistakes that Shego mercilessly took advantage of.

After a few minutes Ron purposely let an opening on his left, trying to bait Shego's strike on his arm and got completely surprised when Shego stopped her blow short and swiped his legs before locking his arm.

-"Just go back!" She shouted. "You can't win this."

-"I won't!" Ron replied "If you really don't want me to interfere you'd better break my arm." He paused "Go ahead, do it! You say you want to go back to your former job then you'd be better off just doing it. Because let me tell you if you choose that road this won't be the last time you'll find me on your way."

-"Why do you have to make this so complicated?" She replied angrily.

-"Because no matter how much you want to deny it, this isn't what you want." He answered.

-"It's not that simple, you think they'll just let me go? They'll arrest me…" Shego started.

-"They're not stupid." Ron replied "They know you can get out of any jail they throw you in. And if you don't they know they will always be a villain that will get you out to take advantage of your powers. You still haven't done anything that can't be covered during this mission. If you'd just help us…"

-"Oh, Ron…" Shego interrupted him "You're so naïve… You really think they'll forgive me after all I've done? All the crimes, all the villainy, every single…"

Ron took advantage of Shego's rant to free himself from her arm lock, he turned away and grabbed her shoulders. "You're the one acting like a kid now." He shouted "Just listen to yourself, *What I've done is terrible, I'm unforgivable.* Well, spoiler alert: I forgive you. No matter what you may have done, I forgive you. Because what you've done doesn't matter, the only thing that matter is the choice you're going to make right now."

He stood, leaving a shocked Shego on the floor, "I'm going to help Kim and the others. If you want to come and help me I'd better more than happy to have you with me. If you want to leave I'm sure you have an escape plan prepared. If you want to go and stay a villain, well… no one is here to have my back so I guess a backstab would be easy." He concluded as he headed toward the lair.

Meanwhile, the situation in the lair was desperate. The strike team was completely defenseless against Kim's battle suit. Dementor maybe couldn't make full use of it since he lacked Kim's fighting abilities, the sheer power provided by the suit was enough to take care of the strike team.

Kim could only watch helplessly as the suit made her body fight her teammates. After a few minutes of fighting, the strike force was completely taken care of even though only a few henchmen remain ready to fight.

"Good," Dementor started "Now let's wait for miss Shego to report in and we'll be ready to leave. I can't wait to make more experiment on this he said, grazing the suit that hugged Kim's body.

-"You're disgusting." Kim growled.

-"Me?" Dementor replied with a smile "I thought you were the one who just attacked your own companions?"

-"Just wait until I free myself and…" Kim started before being interrupted again by Dementor "You don't understand, Kim Possible, so I'll explain it clearly, the only moment you'll be able to move freely is when you'll be alone in a special security cell built specially for you."

-"Not if I have anything to say about it." Ron shouted as he dashed in the room, heading straight for Dementor.

A couple of henchmen got in his way, the first one was quickly taken care of with a flying knee kick to the face which broke his nose while second got his legs swiped before he could react to the beating his friend had just taken.

-"So the faithful sidekick comes to the rescue." Dementor said with a smile, "this should be interesting." He continued as he grabbed his controller "The hero against her sidekick, let's begin immediately."

Kim instantly jumped at a shocked Ron "Kim? What's happening?" he asked as he jumped back.

-"Dementor hijacked my suit!" she said as her fist flew toward Ron's face "He used it to take care of the Global Justice team."

Ron dodged another strike before trying to avoid Kim and rush toward Dementor only for his ribs to meet Kim's fist. The enhanced strike sent him flying toward the wall. He had difficulties to get up and was holding his side with a hand as he took a fighting pose again.

-"You okay, Ron?" Kim asked, visibly worried.

-"It's ok." He replied "Just a cracked rib I think."

-"Ron!" Kim said horrified "You have to get away."

-"Not happening and you know it." He replied.

-"Good," Dementor said, "It wouldn't be fun if it was over so quickly."

Ron looked at Dementor and dropped his fighting pose. "No" he started "I won't fight Kim for your entertainment."

-"Bah," Dementor shouted angrily "Then you'd better be ready to face pain. You sure of your choice?"

-"I won't fight Kim, no matter what you do I won't." Ron said with a determined look.

-"Fortunatly, I am more than willing to take care of this problem." A familiar voice said.

-"What?" Kim asked "Shego? What are you…" before being cut off by a plasma ball that hit her below the chest, sending her flying.

-"What are you doing?" Shego shouted "Grab that damn controller."

-"What?" Dementor started "How is this…"

-"Didn't you get my resignation letter?" Shego teased him "I'll email it to you later."

Ron couldn't help but laugh at that. "Thanks Shego, you rock." He said as he dashed toward Dementor and his remaining goon.

-"Take care of this annoying sidekick," Dementor said "It seems I'll have to do the same with my associate."

Unfortunatly for him, Shego was already a close match for Kim when she had complete control of her body, a remote controlled Kim by someone with no fighting experience was simply no match for Shego who dodged the enhanced fist before swiftly immobilizing Kim.

-"Stay down Kimmie, at least until this controller is taken care of." Shego said with a smirk.

-"You mind explaining this sudden help?" Kim asked with a defiant look.

-"After everything is taken care of." Shego concluded as she turned to look at Ron.

Ron dodged the strike of his opponent before grabbing his arm, swiping his legs and sending him flying on the ground.

He turned toward Dementor with an angry look on his face "Your turn now."

Dementor let go of his now useless controller and dashed toward his control panel where he reactivated his laser. "You think you have a chance? Now, what are you going to do against this?" he asked.

Ron simply looked at the controller on the ground. "I'm not sure letting go of this was your best idea."

Dementor followed Ron's look before realizing what he meant. "Oh sh…" He couldn't finish his sentence as both Kim and Shego smacked his face so hard he flew right in his control panel, breaking it in the process.

-"Kim." Ron said as he rushed to her "You okay, he didn't…"

-"No, I'm fine." She replied "It's just…" she froze as she saw Shego with the controller in her hand.

Ron followed her look and simply smiled. Shego's hand ignited and the controller was burned to a crisp in a matter of seconds.

Kim couldn't hide her surprise at Shego's decision and couldn't help but ask. "Why did you do that? You just had to take that back to Drakken and world domination was a piece of cake."

-"Because, frankly" Shego replied "I'm not really interested in world domination anymore. Not really interested in villainy anymore would be more appropriated."

Kim coughed at that "Not interested in villainy anymore? You mind saying that again? Or explaining? Because I'm a bit lost here."

Shego smiled "Let's just say a certain blonde guy had me thinking about what I really wanted for my life and I decided it wasn't villainy." She said as she winked at Ron which didn't escape Kim's eye.

-"Ok," Kim started "Why does it look like there is something you both aren't telling me?"

-"Well," Ron started "Long story short, Shego has been living in my house for more than three weeks and I've managed to convince her to think if villainy really was what she really wanted, she decided it wasn't so she helped us out here."

-"Wait, wait, wait," Kim said "Did you really say *Living at my house*?"

-"Well," Ron said awkwardly "It's a long story… but, yes."

The look that appeared on Kim's face at that moment was something Shego would remember forever as one of her most treasured memories.


	17. Chapter 17 : Challenging the System

As Ron was explaining the whole situation to Kim after checking the condition of the Global Justice strike team Shego was paying close attention to the face of her possibly former nemesis. As well as to the distance between herself and the door, she may be willing to give this a chance but that doesn't mean she shouldn't take any precautions in case things wouldn't as well as she hoped.

After a while, Ron stopped talking and waited for Kim's reaction.

Kim stayed silent for a while, trying to process all these information including the fact Ron didn't tell her about it over the past month. Just when she thought she was beginning to earn back some of his trust…

She shook her head. This wasn't the time to think about it. If she really wanted Ron to trust her again the only question she should ask was…

-"Why is she here?" Kim asked "I get the whole thing about giving her a place to stay so that she wouldn't rely on the criminal world but I don't get how she got here."

Shego started to sweat heavily. Kimmie seemed to be sharper than usual, her questions were way more thought through than what she usually asked. She opened her mouth only for Ron to interrupt her.

-"I asked her to check on Dementor." He said, Kim looked at him with a shocked look on her face and he kept going "When you told me about Dementor I had a bad feeling, you remember? I asked Shego to get here to have some backup in case things get messy. So she called Dementor and got herself hired swiftly. Dementor wasn't going to pass on a way to show off to Drakken and hired her instantly."

Kim thought about it and couldn't deny it seemed to be okay, they had spent a few hours checking around the lair to discover the backdoor Ron had used. Shego had all the time she needed to get here on time before their attack.

As they were talking, the members of the strike team started to regain consciousness and they decided to hold the chat for when everything would have been taken care of. They turned back toward Dementor only to find Chris pointing his weapon toward Shego.

-"Really?" Shego asked.

-"It's okay, Chris" Kim said "She's on our side."

The agent looked at her with caution, an eyebrow raised as a silent question.

-"Listen big boy," Shego said "If I wanted to escape, it's not your little toy here that would prevent me from getting away so do everyone a favor and put that down."

Ron couldn't help but sigh at Shego's poor sense of diplomacy.

Kim stepped in "Chris, without her none of us would be here so put this down please."

The agent finally put his weapon down before starting to talk "Dr Director must be informed." And heading out.

After a moment Ron couldn't help but start talking "Well, this went better than I hoped…"

-"Don't celebrate now," Shego said interrupting him "This guy is just a lapdog, he'll just follow his boss's orders, if she tell him to throw me in jail he won't hesitate."

-"You're being unfair." Kim replied "It's not like you are a perfect law abiding citizen in the first place."

Shego grinned at that "True enough, let's get going."

Chris headed back to them "Dr Director says I have to bring you all back to our HQ," he started before looking alternatively at Shego and the duo "Will she be a problem?"

-"Don't worry officer," Shego cooed sarcastically "I promise I'll be a good girl."

Chris nodded and couldn't prevent his cheeks from reddening "let's head back." He finally said.

The travel was especially silent, anyone could see the global justice agents weren't at ease with Shego on their ride, without handcuffs.

Kim was still thinking about how Ron had lied to her over the month. Sure he had a good reason but she couldn't but think that if this had happened a few months earlier he would have told her. Trust is hard to get, easy to break and even harder to earn back.

Ron kept thinking about how his life had changed since the diablo incident. Now he was the running back of Middleton high school, he had managed to talk Shego out of villainy and could almost consider Bonnie as a friend. Now all he wanted was some time to settle into this new life of his.

Shego kept thinking about where she was heading. If someone had told her one month ago that she would be heading to Global Justice's HQ by herself she would have honestly laughed to the point her ribs would have been painful. As she left the plane and started walking around in the maze that was the inside of the HQ she couldn't help but think about what would happen if this was only an elaborate trap created by Dr Director to catch her.

She didn't have the time to think it through as they finally arrived to the debriefing rooms. Kim headed in first. She spent a moment inside before a voice called Ron in.

As Ron entered the room he could only see Dr Director on a chair in front of a simple table. Another chair was placed on the other side of the table. He sat and prepared for the inevitable questioning.

Dr Director spent a great deal of time questioning him. About the way he managed to convince Shego to settle at his home, the way he had handled the whole *living together* stitch, the time Shego had finally decided to quit villainy and finally today's mission.

Ron stuck to the story he told Kim, he knew it had some weak points but that wasn't important. What he knew was that if he told Global Justice about how Shego had first decided to work for Dementor before changing her mind she would end up in jail. So he lied. As he finished, he tried to decipher something on Dr Director's face before she started talking "You're really a kind boy, Ron." She said "Sometimes I even think you're too kind for this kind of job. But it's also because we have people like you, that are different from people like me and Kim that we can make sure everything goes the right way."

Ron didn't know how to take this and didn't have the time to think as Dr Director stood up and knocked on another door which instantly opened, letting Kim in again.

"So," She started "As we previously discussed, Kim, your suit will be kept here until we manage to find a way to prevent any hacking to happen again. Wade load will assist us from his house." Kim nodded slightly she knew it was for the best. "As for the rest, we'll have to take care of it."

They all left the room and faced Shego and the rest of the team. "Kim and Ron told me everything about what happened the past month." Dr Director stated.

Shego stayed silent, knowing this woman had the power to break her life definitively or to grant her a new one. She took a glance toward Ron who had a hopeful smile on his face.

She made a sign to the rest of the team. "Take her in custody."

Shego's head fell down. So this was it. She didn't even have the will to fight Dr Director's decision. There was nothing he could do. She looked at both Kim and Ron. Kim seemed sincerely shocked from this decision while a mix of emotion successively appeared on Ron's face. Shock, surprise, incomprehension, anger.

An agent put the handcuffs on her and grabbed her head when she heard Ron.

-"No!" He shouted "I can't let it… How can you…"

-"Ron," Dr Director interrupted him "I know it seems unfair but as I told you before, your biggest weakness is that you're too kind." She stopped for a moment "No matter what her choice is, the truth is Shego is still one of the most wanted criminal in the entire world. And she has to pay for what she did."

-"You think I'll just accept this?" He answered angrily "You guys arrest super criminals all the time, they always escape. No exception. I can't help but tell you that your decision is stupid."

-"This time she won't." Dr Director said as she turned a screen on. "As the number of super criminals increased, the governments created an international facility to handle their internment. It is located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the number of staff member is kept to a minimum and it has the highest level of security any facility could have. I'm sure Miss Shego would gladly be it's first occupant without causing any problem. That being if she is really serious about turning over a new leaf."

The screen showed images of the facility from the outside. In the middle of the ocean, grey walls, machines doing most of the work. Even Shego knew if she ended in here there would be no way out.

"We call it the pit." Dr Director continued "Because we only throw the worst of the worst inside."

Kim started talking "But Shego saved our lives and the lives of the entire strike team, she helped us catching Dementor. Doesn't that mean anything?"

-"I'll see that she get a private cell and that her jail time is reduced, she always paid attention to not killing so I guess she could get out of here in 20 years, 10 years if she behaves like a good girl." Dr Director said before heading down the hall stating clearly the discussion was over.

Shego looked at Ron's face, it was boiling with anger, she could see it "It's okay, Ron." She said "I'll pay for what I've done it's…"

-"No it's not okay!" Ron shouted. Dr Director stopped before looking back at him "Now you're going to…" "No!" Ron interrupted her "You're going to listen to me now! You build a prison for super criminal and the first one you throw in here is a criminal that tries to move on and leave villainy behind her. One that saved the life of an entire team of agents and one of the most promising global justice recruit." He started looking at Kim. "Global Justice exists since a long time as you said, but did you do something when team go got their powers? To help them adapt themselves? To help them to deal with this? No you didn't. You left a girl which had to deal with the fact that she had superpowers completely alone, with no supervision until the moment it became too much for her. Until the moment the only ones that cared about her were criminals. And then you hunted her. For years you sent your lapdogs after her and when she finally decides to turn over a new leaf you decide to throw her in a place *created for the worst of the worst*. I can't decide if you're stupid or if you want to create super criminals to legitimate your own existence."

*Slap* the slap had been so fast Ron didn't see it coming. Now it was Dr Director that was boiling with anger. You could see it on her face. "Don't push me, Kid. You don't know what you're talking about."

-"Maybe," Ron replied "But I know that I have no intention of working with an agency that uses your methods." He paused. "I'm done with Global Justice starting now."

"Please, enough…" Shego thought, "You don't have to go this far for someone like me."

-"No!" Kim shouted "That's not a decision you can take alone." She said "We're partners and before doing something like that we should talk about it."

-"Sorry Kim but I won't go back on my decision." Ron said sharply.

-"I hear you." Kim said before turning toward Dr Director "So I have to inform you that I reached and understanding with my partner, considering our disagreement over your methods we have to break team Possible's relationship with Global Justice."

-"Kim," Dr Director said "Don't get caught in this, you still have a future here…"

-"I'm backing up my partner on this Dr Director." Kim said "If you follow through this decision we're done with you, both of us." She stood by Ron and gave him a slight smile which was returned.

"Princess too…" Shego thought "Why are you doing this…"

-"You both are kids, you don't know what's at stake here…" Dr Director said "She has to be punished for what she did."

-"I never said she shouldn't be." Kim said leaving a shocked Ron by her side "I just said we didn't agree with your decision."

Dr Director looked at her before finally understanding "I guess you have a proposition."

Kim nodded "Shego has to be punished we all agree with this but you have to admit she is a peculiar case, besides throwing her in a jail would be taking the risk of destroying all the progress she did with Ron and we would be back to square one." She paused "No one can deny the good influence Ron had on her, so it would be a benefit for her to stay around him. Global Justice could also monitor her movements with a tracking device to make sure she doesn't escape. As for now, no one knows Shego has been captured, we could take advantage of that and simply send her back to Middleton with a fake name. This way Global justice would be able to constantly monitor her, she would be in a safe environment and all the progress she made over the last weeks wouldn't be jeopardized."

Dr Director spent a long time thinking. Shego could swear she had stopped breathing as she was waiting for the head of Global Justice to make her decision.

-"If we decided to do this…" Dr Director started "And it's a big if. Would Team Possible reconsider it's decision to break it's ties to us?" She finished looking at Ron.

Ron thought about it before simply stating it should be ok.

-"I only have one last request." Said the head of Global Justice "The device we would put on Shego would not only give us her position but could also be activated to knock her out in case she tries to escape."

Ron looked at Shego before nodding at Dr Director. The woman looked at Shego before giving a signal to her men who instantly let go of a stunned Shego before taking off her handcuffs. "You are lucky to have such supporters." She said before leaving


	18. Chapter 18 : New Routine, New challenges

Their travel home was surprisingly silent. Shego was still thinking about what had happened back at Global Justice's HQ and how close she had gotten from ending up in jail. Kim was thinking about Ron and how much he had changed. And Ron was only looking forward to his bed.

After their clash with Dr Director, they had started to plan what to do about Shego in Middleton, she got a communicator which would allow her to contact Global Justice whenever she needed to, she got her tracer placed on her and Global justice managed to get her a house in Middleton under a fake identity. Even though they didn't agree with what Global Justice had originally planned for Shego they had to admit they were efficient.

They first dropped at Shego's new place. The house seemed like it had been a long time since someone lived here. There was almost no furniture, some of the walls could use some painting but the lights and the water seemed to work.

-"How dare they ask you to live here!" Kim said, "With Global justice's funds they could at least get you a decent house."

-"It's fine." Shego replied, "Besides, this way I can arrange it to my own liking. And I am not stupid enough not to see getting this house back in shape is a way for Global Justice to test me."

Both Kim and Ron stayed silent before saying goodbye to Shego and prepared themselves to leave only to be interrupted.

-"Hey, I just wanted to say, you know…" Shego had an awkward look on her face "Thank you, for the help…"

-"It's nothing." Both of them said at the same time.

-"No it's not." Shego replied "It would have been much easier for you, Ron, to leave me alone, to just treat me like a villain, and it would have been much easier for you, Kim, to just stay silent instead of standing by Ron, you put your dream job at Global Justice at stake for me and I won't forget it."

Kim and Ron didn't know how to react to that and just stood there, silent thinking about something until Shego grabbed them and threw them out "Now, get out."

Kim and Ron left the house and started to head home.

Both of them didn't speak much on their way back. Ron's house was on the way so Kim kept him company until then.

Kim kept wondering how she should bring the subject. She knew he had been somewhat distant over the last few weeks because of what had happened at the prom but she didn't thought he would hide something so big from her. "Weren't they partners? Partners don't hide things like that." She thought " _And partners trust each other."_ Said a little voice in her head.

As they arrived to Ron's house, Kim finally decided to speak.

-"Ron, I…" She started

-"Kim." He interrupted her "Thank you."

-"What?" She replied "What are you…"

-"Earlier if you hadn't been by our side Dr Director would have definitely sent Shego to jail, I know it must have been hard for you to stand up to her like that."

-"Ron I…" She started "I know I fucked up at the prom. Hard. For the first time I thought I could enjoy things like a normal girl, no world saving, no missions, just me and the guy I was into, and then you come in talking about us having to go on a mission and I didn't believe you. I didn't want to believe you. I failed you and I'm sorry but…"

-"You'll do everything to make up for it." Ron finished with a smile "I know, it's like the third time you say it." Kim stayed silent at that "I was also unfair to you Kim. I never really understood it, the pressure you had, having to be perfect all the time, the perfect girl with perfect grades, not allowed to fail under any circumstances. It was only a matter of time until you would break down, that's what happened at the prom." He paused "On some point, I also failed you."

-"No!" Kim shouted "It's not your fault, you didn't know…"

-"Exactly, I didn't know." Ron replied "I didn't know about what you were living even though I'm with you all the time. Well, almost. Somewhere, along the way I started thinking of you not as Kim but as some kind of superhuman that can do anything."

Both sighed, looking at each other before bursting in laughter.

-"What are we doing?" Kim started "Trying to claim this is our fault."

-"When in reality we both made mistakes at some points." Ron finished "We're not perfect, and that's why it was important for me to help Shego, it's because we're not perfect that we all deserve second chances."

Kim fought to contain the tears that were coming to her eyes. She gave him a light punch to the shoulder "What happened to my goofy Ron? Did someone finally make you grow up?"

-"I couldn't stay behind forever." Ron replied with a smile before pulling Kim in a hug "Goodnight Kim, see you tomorrow morning on the way to school?"

-"Wouldn't want it any other way." She replied weakly.

Ron let go of her with a smile before heading inside his home, letting Kim alone as she started heading home. She only had a few minutes until her home, she would make good use of it. First she had to convince herself that the abnormal pace of her heartbeat wasn't caused by that previous hug. Some fights are lost before you even start them.

As they fell back into their routine for the rest of the week, things started to feel really awkward for Kim, ever since the prom she had tried to get closer to Ron in order to restore their relationship to how it was before the incident and now that Ron was finally willing to give her another chance, she was starting to feel awkward around him.

She found herself spacing out while she was looking at him, she was losing her train of thoughts when he came unannounced and sometimes had to be careful not to stammer when he was around. This created an annoying turn of event in which she had tried really hard to get closer to him only to try to put some distance between them again in order to collect her thoughts efficiently.

And this was becoming really annoying. Fortunately she could handle herself around him in the morning when it was their usual walk to school and after school he was usually practicing with the football team so she was seeing him much less than last year but it was a problem for the rest of the day.

On Friday she had decided to talk about it with Monique at lunch.

The girls sat at a secluded table in order for Kim to be able to share her worries without any problem. She tried to be as explicit as possible about her problems in order to figure things out as fast as possible and when she stopped talking she couldn't help but being displeased by the grin displayed by her friend.

-"What?" Kim started sharply "Could you please wipe this grin off your face and try to figure out what's the stitch please and thank you?"

-"Oh, I've got it all figured out, don't worry." Monique replied, half talking-half laughing.

-"Go ahead then, if it's so easy." Kim said, waiting for her friend's answer.

-"I'm just surprised you weren't able to figure things out yourself, you're usually much better at this but I guess the fact it's about Ron doesn't allow you to think clearly."

-"Doesn't allow me to think clearly?" Kim said lowly in an outraged voice "You'd better start explaining fast before your teasing gets me really angry."

-"Ok, ok," Monique said with a smile, "I'm just surprised, I thought it would take you much longer to feel like this again after the whole Eric stitch."

Finally, Kim understood what Monique was saying.

-"No. No, no, no, no" she started talking "Not happening, try something else."

-"You can lie to yourself as much as you want, it won't change your feelings girl."

-"So what?" Kim started "I can't be in love with Ron, I spent almost my whole life with him, besides we just patched up our friendship, I can't go on and just ask him out, no freaking way."

-"Do whatever you want," Monique said "But if I was you I wouldn't wait too long."

-"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

-"Duh, girl wake up!" Her friend replied "He's the new star running back, we all saw him saving the world in live and to be honest, this whole football things is getting him quite the nice looks, I'm sure there is a whole bunch of girl who is ready to ask him out."

Kim couldn't really answer to that. "I don't really know what to think about that, so I'm just going to call it quits for today, this is starting to be too much for me." She sighed as the bell rang the end of their lunchbreak.

She joined Ron as they were getting inside their class.

-"What's happening?" She asked

-"Apparently Barkin is going to stop teaching our class, they found a new teacher." Ron said with an excited voice.

-"Any idea what kind of teacher it is?" She asked, relieved that she wasn't going to suffer another year with Barkin as their homeroom teacher.

Ron shrugged his shoulder, showing he had no idea.

Then the door opened and neither Kim nor Ron could prevent their surprise from showing on their face.

"Hello, everyone." Their teacher started "My name is Sheila Goh and I'm going to be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year."


	19. Chapter 19 : Attitude Adjustment

**Hello everyone. Sorry for taking so long to post, if last break was because of some trouble, this one was because of a real shitstorm which included my having to replace my computer. Anyway, I'm back, hopefully for a long time without any break and here is the next chapter, writing it has been really hard so i hope you'll like it. As usual please read and reveiw if you liked it.**

The rest of the day was a blur. The heroic duo ended up in complete shock from Shego's sudden appearence and only the green woman's glare stopped them from rushing toward her at the end of the class to ask for shock continued for the rest of the day, Kim's cheer practice had to end early because she was too distracted to focus on the squad and the routine while Ron's football practice turned into hell. He couldn't focus like he usually did which left him as an easy target for the opposing blockers. He didn't remember a session where the coach had chewed him out more than this one. Including his first one.

As he met Kim outside school, Ron felt like the pain from his bruises had become more bearable.  
They headed straight toward the parking lot only to find Shego in front of a second hand car.  
-"With all these years of crime fighting one could think you could afford more than this." Ron started after checking they were alone.  
-"Get in," Shego replied, concerned someone might see them. The teens got in the car and Shego let the school. "Leaving crime isn't cheap," she started "Global justice took all of my assets in order to make sure I would follow the rules like a good citizen."  
-"Well," Kim replied "Most of this money came from criminal activities so it's not like it's unexpected."  
Shego growled but didn't reply.  
-"How did you even ended up as a teacher anyway?" Ron asked "With your background Global Justice would be better off sending you on missions."  
Shego laughed before answering "Yeah, right. It seems that thanks to my criminal background they don't consider me trustworthy enough to be sent on missions so when they learnt I had graduated in child development they simply sent me here, probably in order for you to have an eye on me."  
-"Don't be ridiculous," Ron replied "Besides it's not like you're planning to break the law again right?"  
-"Well," Shego replied with a smirk "I walked in front of this jewelry yesterday..."  
-"Shego!" Kim shouted before being interrupted by the former villainess laugh.  
-"Relax princess, i'm joking."  
-"This isn't a laughing matter." Kim replied "Ron put his reputation on the line for you..."  
-"I know," Shego replied sharply. "Anyway, seems like we're going to see each other a lot so please don't go around saying i used to be a villain, it would cause some troubles, especially after the time global justice spent to clear my record."  
-"We're not stupid," Kim replied before seeing they had arrived in their neighborhood. "Thanks for the lift." she said as she and Ron left the car.  
-"See you tomorrow, my little students." Shego said teasingly as she left.  
Both teens watched as the car disappeared from their sight.  
-"Man," Ron started "Shego's our teacher."  
-"It still doesn't feel real..." Kim replied.  
-"I know what you mean," Ron said before grabbing his pack. "Anyway, see you tomorrow."  
-"Wait," Kim said as she grabbed his arm. Ron froze and turned toward her. "It's still early," she continued "Wanna hang out a bit?"

It was when she saw the look in Ron's eyes at this moment that she truely realised the extent of the no man's land that had apeeared betwen them. No, the no man's land she created between them. If she wanted their relationship to go back to what it used to be, it was up to her to fix it. Now, how do you fix a lifelong friendship that you threw away just for a pretty boy, that's something else.  
Could it even be completey fixed? When something is broken you can fix it and make it usable again, but a scar will always be there. Would their friendship end up like that too? Scarred? The shadow of what it used to be ?  
All those thoughts spinned in her head as she looked at Ron.  
Ron saw the pain in her eyes, the anguish, the fear that he would reject her. But he couldn't, not now. He wasn't ready. Or he was. He didn't know. And that was the problem, no matter how much he tried to put what had happened behind them it was like he was always coming back to this.  
-"Sorry, Kim." He replied 'It's just..."  
-"It's okay," she answered "I get it." Ron turned away and started walking home. "Ron." She said one last time as he turned to face her. "I'll wait as long as it takes."  
Ron simply nodded and headed home.

Meanwhile, as the two hero where struggling to go through their morning revelation, someone escaped from a highly secured facility in Go city. The villain known as Electronique was back to business, and this time there would be no team go to stand in her way.  
Her plan was already ready, all she had to dowas to get the parts she needed and it would be her win. At long last. She was walking, these thoughts spinning in her head over and over only to be interrupted by a magazine in making contact with her face.  
-"What the hell is..." she started before looking at the cover. "Teen hero saves the world from gigantic robot invasion, heh." She said "Ron Stoppable is that it?".  
It took her only a few minutes to gather informations about him. And few more to get everything she needed about the hero he was working for, Kim Possible.  
She smiled. It would only take a few adjustments to her plan but the payoff was worth it. It wouldn't matter which hero was in her way, whether it was Team Go or Kim Possible, this evening they would all belong to her.

Kim headed home straight after her chat woth Ron. She felt like she was about to throw up, no matter how hard she tried it was like Ron was getting further and further away from her. And couldn't find any solution.  
-"I'm so stupid," she groaned, still thinking about how easy it would have been at the prom to just call Wade and ask for answers, she had probably ruined the best thing that happened to her life because she had been too lazy to make a one minute call.

Suddently, her Kimmunicator rang, she grabbed it and opened her mailbox to find a mail coming from club banana.  
"Dear Kim Possible, we recieved a special limited edition of our latest collection and we decided to hold a special sale for our most dedicated clients which you're a part of. The sale will take place this evening only from 7 PM to 10 PM. Please remembre to bring your club banana card in order for us to be able to register you. We thank you for choosing Middleton's club banana all these years."  
"Great!" Kim thought, "Exactly what i need to get my mind off Ron, a little shopping session, plus i bet Monique will be there too."  
At 6.30 PM she grabbed her jacket, left the house and headed toward the mall. Still thinking about her stitch with Ron, she entered the mall and headed toward club banana. She arrived in front of the shop, the lights were on and she could hear some noise coming from the inside, she looked at her watch, 7.05 PM. "I hope the good stuff isn't already taken." she thought as she opened the door only to be met with an empty room.  
She froze on the spot, was she the first one? For an exclusive sell? Her thought were interrupted by a voice coming from her left.  
-"Hello, Kim Possible. You had me waiting." said the voice.  
She turned toward the direction from where the voice was coming from, but only had the time to see a strange ray coming in her direction before being hit. She could only see a blurry face before her whole world went dark.


	20. Chapter 20 : Preparing the Ambush

**Hi, everyone. Next chapter is here. In order for everyone to understand what's happening Kim's thoughts will be written _"this way"_ for this part of the story, I think you will understand why very soon. Anyway, enjoy, read and review as usual.**

Kim opened her eyes, slowly awakening, she could feel the floor moving, slowly rocking as if she was on a boat. She got on her feet, finding out she really was on a boat, heading toward a large city.  
Her head felt strange, she remembered coming to the mall, getting inside club banana, hearing someone...  
-"You awake?" said a voice. No, not a voice, THE voice, the one she heared earlier in the shop, before passing out. "Now that you're awake we can start with the next part of the plan."  
-"The plan?" she said weakly, her head was all fuzzy and she felt strange as if her thought were in a mess.  
-"Of course, the plan. Now that I have you on board, and since i'll soon have team go on my side too, i'm almost ready to start taking over this city."  
 _"What?" Kim thought, "That is..."_  
-"Awesome!" she started "How's the stitch?"  
 _"What? What the hell am i saying?"_  
-So," Electronique started "How does it feel to start your career as a villain."  
-"It feels great," Kim replied "I was never made for all this hero business anyway, too many responsability, everyone calling you as soon as they have a little problem, way too annoying. Doing whatever you want feels much better, and if they really need me that much then I'd rather be above them all."  
 _"I would never say that!" Kim thought angrily, it was as if she had no control over her body "What the hell did she do to me."_  
-"Good choice." Electronique said with a smile "Then you can say thanks to this little sweety," she said showing a strange machine that looked familiar "This is my new attitudinator, it switches the moral values and personality of it's target. I always thought heroes would make the best villains." she finished with a smirk.  
 _"Oh god, this is a freaking nightmare and i'm gonna wake up." Kim thought._  
-"Why do we need Team Go then?" Kim asked "From what i've seen of them, they are buffoons, completely useless."  
 _"No they're not, they're respectable heroes that do their best to help people."_  
-"Ah, you're right but they did beat me before and it would feel great to see them lose their reputation and credit by becoming my acolytes." Electronique replied, "you, on the other end, are way too important for me to let you on the heroes' side."  
 _"I don't know what to think about that."_  
-"I'm also wondering about your teammate, he was kind of a nobody until he pulled that stunt not long ago from what i've seen. Do you think we should recruit him?" She asked.  
-"No, he's not worth it," Kim replied "he got lucky this time but usually i'm the one that does the job and he just stays behind, being the distraction." She paused "Besides, he's not that bright and causes more problem than anything, I probably would be better off without him."  
 _"That's not true you stupid idiot, Ron is amazing, he saved us all at the prom, he saved us from Gill last year when we couldn't do anything, he..."_  
Electronique started laughing, "Wow, I didn't thought you viewed your partner that way, that certainly come in handy." Seeing Kim's s look she explained further "Well, my attitudinator can't create evil feelings or evil thoughts, it just take the negative emotions anyone have inside and empower them until they push everything else out of the way. In other words you're not a new person, I just let lose some part of you the goody-two shoes you were before wouldn't let out. In other words, everything you're saying or thinking is something that went through your head but didn't let out."  
-"That's why it feels so great. Just as great as leaving him behind." Kim said with a smile before joining Electronique with her laugh .  
 _"That's not true, I don't think about Ron that way, I am not that way, I'm not like this, I'm not..."_  
"Anyway, can't this idiot just take a hint? It's not only that nobody remembers him but he also keeps coming back despite the fact I always treat him like shit when i get a boyfriend, he's a good little sidekick that's all, and I know i deserve better." Kim concluded.  
 _Kim felt like something heavy had been dropped on her, on her conscience "Is that really how I see Ron? Am I really like that?" She would be crying if she was still in control of her body. The shock hit her so hard she felt her consciousness fade away._

-"Anyway," Kim said "How do you intend to get Team go here? All together?"  
-"Simply the same way I got you," Electronique repliec "I find a way to contact them, tell them I have something they really want and they all come here like good little kids. They're not that bright."  
-"You mean they are downright stupid." Kim corrected her with a smirk.  
They left the boat and took position in front of the storage Team Go was supposed to visit later.  
-"I'm gonna put the ray on the largest position, this way i can get them all." Electronique said.  
-"Feels good to work with someone that actually knows what he's doing." Kim answered.  
-"Oh come on," Electronique replied "You'll make me blush." She froze, "Shh, here they come."  
Electronique was focused on the corner of the building, where the voices were coming from, she waited, patiently, a few seconds and they would be hers, and then no one would be able to stop her. She saw Hego, his head looking away from her as he was talking, it was way too easy. She fired. The large hit Hego and the rest of the group perfectly, just like Kim earlier they all lost consciouness.  
-"Ha!" Electronique shouted, "This is it, finally they won't be in my way, now no one will stand in my way, I've finally won." She let go of her weapon and ran toward the unconscious group. "Hego, now your super strengh will be the way for us to break inside any place, Wego, your powers will create our new evil army, Mego, your ability will allow us to rule even the sky, and Shego..."  
She turned her head only to find an empty spot. Her good mood instantly vanished.  
-"No, not again." She grabbed Hego and slapped him again and again to wake him up, "WHERE IS SHEGO?" She shouted, "I need her, she's always been the head of the group, if she's not with us then this means nothing."  
-"I think i might have an idea about this..." Kim said.

Earlier that night.  
Shego was about to get in her bed when she heard her phone ringing, she had a text. She took her phone.  
"Exclusive sell at Go City, comme to enjoy our best selection of articles for women, from shoes to beauty products, everything is there waiting for you, tonight, at the best prices you'll ever find."  
Shego smiled, that would have been great. Unfortunatly with the special attention Global Justice was giving her she had to strictly follow their deal and that included staying in Middleton for now. Sadly, this would have to wait. She smiled and went to bed, think about how much her world had changed recently.

Electronique looked at Kim in disbelief. "You're saying Shego is in the little city of Middleton, working as a high school teacher, that she left the hero business a long time ago to become a villain and more recently left villainy to enjoy a fresh start?"  
-"Exactly!" Kim replied with a smile "Honestly she's kind of stupid, villain's life is so much more exciting."  
-"I guess we'll have to pay her a visit then." Electronique said with a smirk.  
-"Don't worry, I have an idea you should find interesting." Kim replied, getting closer to her new partner in crime to whisper it in her ear.  
-"Miss Possible, I think you were born to be a villain." Electronique concluded with a faint smile.  
-"Tell me something I don't know," Kim replied "After all, I can do anything."


	21. Chapter 21 : First Strike

Ann woke up, still worried about her daughter. Kim had left in the evening and hadn't come back when she and James had gone to bed. It wasn't the first time Kim acted this way, sometimes an unexpected mission just came by and Kim left for a while. But she usually told them she was leaving, that's why she had decided if her daughter wasn't back for school she would call the police.  
She went downstairs only to find Kim putting the table on for breakfast.

-"Hello mom," she started "Sorry for yesterday, an unexpected mission came by and I forgot to call, when I remembered that I thought you would be sleeping and didn't want to wake you up."  
-"Oh, Kimmie, next time just don't forget to call, your father and I were worried sick." Ann replied, hugging her daughter.  
 _Mom, this isn't me. MOM ! Kim's mind shouted, locked inside her body._  
-"It's ok, don't worry." Kim replied with a smile, "Let's hurry, I wouldn't want to be late for school."  
"Can't wait for schooltime to come," she thought "this is gonna be awesome."  
Breakfast went fairly well, no one realized what was going on, the tweebs kept arguing, James and Anne acted all lovey-dovey with each other and Kim just stayed fairly silent it was time to go. She grabbed her bag, said goodbye to her parents and left.

Her head was full of ideas and plans, Electronique was really amazing, being able to plan all this, Shego wouldn't stand a chance when the trap would be set in motion.  
She got to school and was greeted by Monique, "You okay girl?" She asked "You with me?"  
-"Sorry," Kim replied "Just lost in my thoughts."  
-"Still thinking about Ron? Where are you two at? Still not back to normal?"  
-"In a way," Kim replied "But I'm starting to go over this, if Ron doesn't want me, then I can't force him."  
-"Huh?" Monique stopped, she opened her mouth only to be stopped by the bell.  
-"Come on," Kim said, grabbing her arm "We'll be late."  
First period went fairly well, homeroom was right before lunchtime so she had to wait until then for the real to start. As first period ended, she left the class and ran into Ron.  
-"Oh," she froze, "hi."  
-"Hi," Ron replied weakly "you okay? Monique seemed kind of worried."  
-"No I'm fine," she replied "I just realized there was no meaning in putting the pressure on you when it came to all this stitch, so I'm just going to wait for you to be ready."  
Ron stopped for a second when he heard these words before smiling "Thanks, you know it really helps that you see it like that."  
-"That's what friends are for." She smiled as she left "Idiot," she tought.

As morning went by, Kim couldn't help but check her watch, hoping for time to go faster so that she could get her fun, when the last class before homeroom ended, she had to behave herself in order not to rush toward their homeroom class.  
Kim paid almost no attention to class, she was ony focused on Electronique's signal. She didn't know what it would be but her partner in crime had told her she wouldn't be able to miss it.  
She smiled thinking about how awesome her life had become since she became a villain, being a hero came with so much hassle, just thinking about solving other's people problems withtout the time to think about yours, that seemed so stupid now.  
 _"No it's not!" a little voice shouted inside her._  
Ron kept thinking about what Kim had told him earlier this morning, she seemed to get what he had told her the last time. If that was the case maybe there was a chance they could go back to what they used to be. He shook his head as a focused on the class Shego was giving.  
Shego was giving them their homeroom class. And she was quite good at it. This situation that would have completely shocked him a month earlier seemed now completely normal. He couldn't realise how fast he had gotten to know Shego. And through her, it made him think about the villains they were fighting. Maybe there was a way to help them the same way he helped Shego. He smiled. He should talk to Kim about this. Or Shego. Maybe she would like to help on this.  
He looked at Shego more closely, she seemed at ease in a class, teaching, as if she was born to do this. As he looked at her, he couldn't help but see she looked really beautiful with this suit, it was a welcomed change from her green and black catsuit.

As class reached its end, the windows started shaking. Shego instantly froze she would recognize the sound of an approaching hovercraft anywhere.  
-"Everyone, get out of class." She shouted "hurry up everyone get..."  
The windows exploded as the students were rushing toward the exit. The shock had taken Ron by surprise, resulting in him getting up painfully after being thrown to the ground.  
He got up in the middle of the chaos and saw an hovercraft positionned next to the windows. He got up and headed toward Kim who had already reached Shego's desk. Shego was already in position, ready for anyone that could come out of the hovercraft, Kim by her side, the last student leaving the now devastated classroom.  
The vehicle opened, revealing a strange thing that seemed to be a crossover between a girl and a computer.  
-"Electronique." Shego stated.  
-"Glad to see you remember me." The villain started "You're not happy to see me?"  
-"Let's cut the crap," Shego replied "I already beat you once, I can do it again."  
-"Maybe." The villainess smiled "But today things are a bit different..." suddently Shego's body started convulsing and she lost consciousness almost immediatly. "Because I have a very capable associate." Electronique concluded looking at Kim that seemed to be holding some sort of taser.  
Ron froze from the shock. This wasn't happening. This wasn't...  
-"You'd better stay out of this, Ron," Kim said with a smile "It's out of your league."  
As he stayed frozen in shock, Kim grabbed Shego's unconscious body and headed toward the hovercraft.  
Ron shook his head, this wasn't the time to stay still. As Kim reached the edge of the class and the hovercraft Ron rushed forward.  
Kim saw him coming, tossed Shego's body in the vehicle and faced him. Ron steeled himself and rushed toward her. The first seconds of the fight confirmed something he had always known without having the possibility to confirm it.  
He was no match for Kim. She easily blocked his charge, delivered a punch to his side which he blocked and used this opening to force her foot in his guts.  
As Ron was reeling from the pain Kim turned her back to him and jumped inside the craft "Let's go." She simply said.  
As the hovercraft started to get away, Ron jumped. It was stupid, there was no way he could do this. And yet he managed to hang on and reach the top of the aircraft. Fortunatly, he was facing Electronique, Kim being on the other side of the vehicle.  
-"You sure don't know how to quit." the vilainess started "You know you can't win, right?"  
-"I don't have to win," Ron replied "it's enough if you lose." Then he grabbed Shego's arm and jumped. If he could buy them enough time until global justice's arrival.  
Unfortunatly, his fall was suddently stopped halfway. He looked at what had managed to do that only to see something he used to rely on. Kim had fired her grappling hook and managed to get the wire around Shego's body.  
-"Ron," Kim started "you really should stop to try to be a hero when you aren't fit to be one."  
Ron kept desperatly thinking about the situation and the solution presented herself. He closed his eyes, opened his right hand and focused.  
The rope was starting to pull them up when he felt the familiar weight of the lotus blade in his hand. As he saw the look in Kim's eyes he swung it desperatly toward the cable. The wire was cut like it was nothing. Both he and Shego fell to the ground. Before losing conciousness he coud hear the sound Global Justice's vehicles arriving. They were saved.  
In the hovercraft Kim was furious. "Let's get down and get them, we can handle those scrubs..."  
Electronique interrupted her as she pulled away from the scene. "There will be other opportunites." She said "If we live to fight another day, we'll get the last laugh in the end. People can't be lucky all the time."  
The aircraft vanished in the sky. Along with the world famous teen hero.


	22. Chapter 22 : Time for a Counterattack

Ron finally woke up painfully, as he opened his eyes and tried to look around a voice interrupted his thoughts.  
-"Director, he's awake."  
It looked like an hospital, the same white walls, the same creepy feeling, but it wasn't. There are no armed guards in any hospital.  
-"Huh," Ron started "Where am I?"  
The guard simply stayed silent, giving Ron the answer he needed. Global Justice. Only Global Justice could have access to these kind of facilities, also after what had happened it was logical...  
Kim. Ron instantly got up, his shoulder was painful but it wasn't to the point he couldn't move it. he tried to leave what looked like a hospital bed but the guard put him back in his place.  
-"Easy," he said "the Director is coming, until she's here you stay where you are." He just had the time to finish his sentence when the door opened letting Dr Director inside the room.  
-"Leave me alone with him, please." She said.  
As they were left alone, the director of Global Justice came closer to the hospital bed.  
-"What happened?" She asked.  
-"You know what happened," Ron replied "no need to..."  
-"I want to hear it from you." She cut him. "What. Happened?"

Ron sighed. "It all happened so fast. The windows exploded, Shego ordered the students to leave, Kim came to her as the villain appeared and..." He stopped, not wanting to remember what had happened after that.  
-"Keep going," Dr Director said mercilessly.  
-"Kim had some kind of taser, she used it on Shego and threw her in the aircraft. I tried to stop her but she kicked me to the ground, then I jumped, grabbed Shego and we fell to the ground."  
-"Thats where my team found you," said Dr Director. "What about the sword?"  
-"Sword?" Ron replied nervously "What sword?"  
-"The one you had in your hand when we found you," Betty replied "It vanished after a while."  
-"Ah..." Ron simply replied.  
-"What is it?" She asked.  
-"I can't tell you." Ron said firmly. Betty sighed, she knew the boy wasn't going to budge on this. Her thoughts were interrupted again. "How long have I been out?" Ron asked.  
-"About the rest of the day," Betty replied "It's almost 10 pm, we kept you asleep to make sure everything was okay, you fell in a pretty bad way."  
-"What about Kim?" he asked with a hint of despair in his voice.  
Betty looked at him, wondering if she could tell him "he will know it anyway," she thought thinking about team Possible's tech genius.  
-"We didn't manage to catch her." She replied "She's been really busy. Three banks in an afternoon is really impressive even by villain standards."  
-"Oh no..." Ron whispered, grabbing her head with his hands.  
-"We think they are gathering money, taking advantage of the fact most of our forces are busy right now." she said.  
-"Busy with what?" the blond boy asked, lifting his head back up.  
-"Team go is going on a rampage in Go city, it's as if they've gone completely crazy." Betty informed him "With their powers we're having a lot of trouble with them, especially since some of our equipment seems to be malfunctionning."  
-"The villain," Ron said "She said her name was Electronique..."  
-"We know who she is and what she's capable of," Dr Director interrupted him "we'll handle her."  
-"I can help..." He started.  
-"No!" she stated "First you have to finish healing here."  
-"But i'm fine..." He replied.  
-"Second" She interrupted him again "you're too invested in this. I can't let you go out there when it's related to Kim, just leave this to the adults for once." She got up and headed toward the exit before stopping halfway and turning back.  
-"Also..." She looked uncomfortable "Kim was put on Global Justice's wanted list."  
-"What?" Ron exploded "How could you? You know she isn't in her normal state, there has to be some sort of influence or anything..."  
-"And what?" Betty interrupted him "For now, all we know is that she's working together with a group of villain, when we get her, we'll know what's happening, until then she's a criminal and must be treated like one."  
-"Even if you end up killing her?" He asked angrily "I saw your gorilla's weapon, it's not your non lethal taser watch."  
-"That's how much of a threat she is." Dr Director said "And if she ends up dying then i'll take full responsability."  
Ron jumped toward her but was easily subdued. "Stay here, it's not like there is anywhere you can go anyway. Try to sleep a bit your body could use that." She let go of him and headed out. "Security. Make sure he stays in here until the situation is taken care of." She ordered.  
-"Alright Director." two officers replied as the door was being locked.

The following hour had been a nightmare for Ron. Alone in his room thinking about what had happened again and again. It was his fault. He knew it. If he hadn't turned his back on Kim after all this, if he had stayed as close as they had been he would have seen it happening, she wouldn't have been able to fool him. No, this wouldn't have happened in the first place. He was supposed to have her back dammit and he let a freak turn her into a villain.  
Turn her into a villain. That's when he understood. It's possible to turn someone into a villain, especially since that Electronique girl was any good with machines. After all, he had experienced this first hand.  
Team Go, Kim, Electronique was planning to turn any hero that could be a threat into an ally. And Dr Director was heading straight toward her. In a trap. That was obviously a trap. But he couldn't do anything in here.  
He got out of his bed and slammed his fist on the door.  
-"Let me out." He shouted, "The Director, she can't go after them herself, it's a damn trap. You have to let me out."  
-"Just stay in here and stay quiet." One of the officer said "Didn't she say to let the adults take care of things. Little kids like you should just go to bed and let us work."  
-"You don't understand," Ron said "They want Dr Director to come out, this way they can do to her the same thing they did to Team Go and Kim. They want to turn her into a villain."  
-"I think we told you to..." he started before being interrupted by a couple of smacking sound.  
"You'd better get away from the door." said a familiar voice.  
Ron just had the time to get away as the door was blasted away by a plasma bolt. "So," Shego started "You said something about a trap, right? Wanna go out and do something about it?" She said with her usual grin and a global justice action suit in her hand. She was already ready with something similar to her trademark catsuit, the main difference being the fact it was completely black and had Global Justice's symbol on it.  
"So," she asked "You going to come with me or stay here like a good boy and let the adults do all the work?"  
Ron simply grabbed the suit. "You can change in the aircraft." Shego stated "Or you can do this here, I wouldn't mind the view but we could run out of time." She said with a grin. "Come on, hurry," she said "It's not everyday I can fight princess seriously while being with the good guys."  
Ron blushed slightly and followed her. "Here we go again." He sighed as he followed the girl who used to be one of his worst enemies to find and stop his oldest friend. "This is never going to be simple." he said.  
-"Come on," Shego replied "Admit it, it wouldn't be fun if it was easy."  
Ron simply shook her head and followed her. Then he smiled. He knew she was right.


	23. Chapter 23 : Their current condition

The sidekick and the former villainess made their way inside of the Global Justice facility. "Do you even know where we're going?" Ron asked.

-"Everyone builds these place the same way, you would be surprised to see goo guys and bad guys usually build their hideouts thinking about the same things." Shego replied "If I'm right, we should be arriving soon."  
-"Where?" Ron simply said.  
-"Here." Shego said with a grin. She showed him the door and Ron's face went blank.  
-"You want to steal a Global Justice's aircraft?" He whispered.  
-"What?" She replied "You have a problem with that?"  
-"Of course I have one." He replied "Kim and I work with these guys all the time, how can we keep trusting each other if we steal their stuff."  
-"So you guys work together but they tell you to stay put on the sidelines while Kimmie is in danger?" She asked "That's one great relationship you guys have here."

Ron stared at Shego blankly, trying to find something to say and found himself unable to refute her point.  
-"Now just follow my lead." Shego continued. She got up and walked toward the two Global Justice officers. "Hey guys," she purred lowly as she walked toward them, swaying her hips "don't you think it's getting pretty boring around here? I'm sure we could fine something fun to do together."  
The tow guys stood there, gaping at the gorgeous woman walking toward them. By the time they realized who she was it was too late, she delivered a high kick to the first guard's throat before grabbing the other one's head and bashing it on the door.

Ron rushed toward her, "Don't you think that's a bit excessive?" he said, looking out for the two unconcious officers.  
-"Don't worry," she interrupted him "It takes more than that to kill people, these guys will just sleep a few hours and wake up with a headache."  
She opened the door ans headed toward one of the aircrafts. She jumped on one, opened the hatch and got inside. Ron followed her swiftly.  
-"How are we going to get away without the keys?" Ron said "We don't have..."  
-"Just look around and tell me if someone is coming, I handle the engine." Shego said, she then got on all four and started working. Ron found it quite difficult to focus on watching outside, especially considering the view Shego displayed in front of him. After all, no matter how focused he was on saving Kim, he was still a teenage male and Shego was an attractive woman.  
"No." he thought "It's wrong to think like that. She's my teacher, she used to be a villain, and she's older than men, like..." he paused "How old is she anyway? She's older than us for sure but she doesn't seem that older..."  
-"You okay Ron," Shego purred, looking at him "We're ready to go you know?"  
Ron's face became bright red. "Sorry, sorry, yes I'm ready, yes. Let's go. Oh shit, I'm sorry."  
Shego chuckled, "Come on, no need to be like that, I'm used to these reactions, also you're a guy, looking at girls is expected." Her face instantly got serious "Just make sure to focus from now."  
She settled, started the engine and let the night sky swallow them as they left Global Justice's facility.

Meanwhile, a few miles outside Go City

-"Shit!" Kim shouted as she kept trashing their brand new lair "Shit! Dammit!"  
-"Even as a villain you are a sore loser," Electronique stated with a grin.  
-"No one should be staisfied with losing." Kim replied angrily "Only losers are satisfied with th at."  
-"Anyway," Electronique kept going "you should calm down..."  
-"Why should I calm down?" Kim interrupted her "We had her and couldn't get out..."  
-"It doesn't matter." Electronique said calmly "the setup is working just fine. Global Justice has made their move."  
Kim stopped and started smiling. "They are headed..."  
-"For Go City." Electronique concluded "To stop this pathetic team of former heroes, of course."  
Kim's smile grew even larger "That's where we make our move."

Electornique headed out "A team of heroes can't make that big of a difference, but the head of the biggest secret peace keeping organisation, that is a much sweeter target. Compared to that, Shego is a small peeble, and your sidekick is even smaller."  
-"So," Kim said, as all her bad mood seemed to have vanished, "are we going?"  
-"Shhh," Electronique said softly "One thing after the other, we'll be ready in time but first I have to finish that."

The aircraft kept heading toward Go City, hidden by the cloudy night, Ron had first pretended to sleep but he was running out of time as Shego had seen him move awkwardly in his seat. He still couldn't believe Shego had seen him like that. Staring at her like an idiot.  
Sure he was a bit clumsy, he was the first to admit it but he had always respected every person he had worked with. For him to act like that...  
-"Shego," He started  
-"Don't apologise." She said sharply.  
-"Huh?" Ron reacted, stopping his big apology as Shego interrupted him "What? But I..."  
-"Oh, Ron, for god's sake I was playing with you." She said "It was on purpose. Have you never seen girls at your school acting like that?"  
Ron stayed silent as he remembered the multiple times he had seen Kim, Monique, Bonnie or even Tara act strangely around guys. "But why?" He finally asked.  
-"It's a way for girls to have fun at a guy's expense." She replied "We do something like that while speaking and then he look like an idiot as he kept staring and didn't listen."  
-"Hey." Ron started "Not cool. Not cool at all."  
-"Some girls," Shego kept going "also do it to get attention from the guys they like."  
Ron stopped talking. What was she talking about? Was she suggesting... "And why did you do it then?"  
Shego smiled "It's just, you were so tensed and focused, I thought I had to loosen you up a bit." She paused "And also, I always tease my friends like that."  
-"Haha," Ron replied "Very funny, definitly..." he paused. "Friend?"

Shegoo looked at him "Does it surprise you?" she asked "You didn't look at me like a freak, let me live at your place when i needed a place to crash and even put your reputation on the line when Global Justice came for me. Just today you stopped an old enemy from abducting me." She paused "There are not that many people who have done that much for me, the least I can do is to help you save your girl."

Ron jumped up hit his face on the roof and faced Shego "Kim and I aren't dating." He said rubbing his now painful head.  
Shego smiled, "For now." She said "Ron, you've been following her since you both were kids, and you kept going after her and having her back even in high school. As for Kim, she's one of the most popular girl in her school, almost any boy in the school would kill to have a chance to date THE Kim Possible, and yet she still keep you around, heck she even has one of her week night dedicated for you. Are you really going to tell me there is nothing."  
Ron stayed silent for a while before speaking again "At first, maybe," He started "If you had talked to me about this a few month ago I would have answered you instant." He paused, "But after what happened at the prom..."

-"Ron," Shego said "Drakken really did his homework for this one, Eric was designed to be the kind of guy Kim Possible would instantly fall for..."  
-"So what?" He replied "I don't care that she fell for him, I don't care that she spent all her time with him from the moment he came, I can get that." He paused "It's just, when I came to her and asked her to help me, I was confident she would listen to me. I mean, I had her back for how many years? I fought psychos, mad scientists and evil monkeys with her, I followed her in every damn corner of the world, I even went to amazonia by myself to get her a freaking flower to save her."  
Shego smiled "And you're still saying you don't feel anything for her?" She asked.  
Ron kept speaking, unfazed by Shego's interruption, "I never doubted her, when she came and told me to go, I followed her, every single time. And when I asked for the same, she just told me to go away. Like a god damn toy she didn't want anymore."  
For the first time, Shego saw how big of a rift Drakken and her had created by sending Eric in Middleton. No, from what Ron was saying it was as if sending Eric had made all their problems come out in the open.

-"I know she's trying to make up for it. I see she's trying but..." he sighed "How do I know it's not going to happen again? How do I know she even cares?"  
Shego looked at him silently "You remember when Global Justice tried to arrest me?" She asked "You said if they didn't listen to you then you would never work with them if they took me away." Ron nodded "Kim backed you up on this. And I'm sure she didn't do it for me." Ron opened her mouth but Shego kept talking "She probably didn't agree with their decision but not to the point to put herself on the line for me, she did it for you. Because it was important to you. I know she did something that really hurt you back then but don't let go of her for a single mistake."

-"It's not a single mistake." He said "when we were in sophomore year, Kim desperatly wanted to invite a guy from our class to the dance." He paused "So I told her to go for it, that she shouldn't be afraid of asking him out. So she did, she rushed toward him, knocking me aside on the way and accidentaly locking me in the janitor's closet for the rest of the evening. Or when i went to get this flower to help her, she could have just stayed inside her home and wait for me but she just had to go out with that same guy despite the fact she could have died out there." He sighed "Just to say that, I always give 100% and even more for her when she needs me, and it's like she doesn't even try to understand when I really need her. It's like I don't know if she really thinks what she says when she tell me she'll be there or that she needs me. So, yeah, I don't really know where we stand but I know I want to become someone she won't look down on, even if that mean distancing myself from her."  
-"Even if that means losing her friendship?" Shego asked, "You should be a bit careful with that kind of thinking."  
-"If she can't endure that and just leaves me again, then I know that she would have just left me again the moment things would become difficult again." Ron replied "So yeah, that's how I'm going to handle things until I'm sure I can trust her 100% again."

Shego didn't have anyhthing to say at that, everyone out there considered Ron Stoppable as stupid or childish but he was much more mature than everyone gave him credit for.  
As a matter of fact, the more she learnt about him, the she was impressed by the fact he was able to stay so dedicated to Kim and her will to help people, she remembered him when he had been turned into a villain. He had been scary, much more than Drakken or any other villain she knew. He had been on the verge to beat Kim, much closer than Drakken or herself had ever been. Kim knew how strong he was when he was evil, so why didn't she tell Electronique to just target her sidekick? Her thought kept swirling in her head as they approached Go City.

Kim and Electronique left their hideout, their preparations were over, it was time to go.  
-"If Shego and your sidekick come," Electronique started "Let's target them too. I still want Shego with us and your sidekick didn't seem to be that bad when we saw him at your school."  
-"I still don't think we need him," she said "He was just lucky."  
-"He was lucky twice." Electronique said "I won't take any risk. If you can't turn him just put him to sleep and bring him to me. I'm sure he would be decent as a villain."  
"Yeah right." Evil Kim thought "Decent as a villain..." Then everything came back to her. Everything about the only moment when Ron had acted as a villain.  
"No!" She thought "No, no, no, no, I can't allow that to happen."  
-"Okay," Kim replied slowly "put him to sleep, understood." "Oh, I'll put him to sleep alright." She thought "There's no way I'm letting that monster out again, I'm the one who deserve to be on the top, I'm the only one that should shine, me, not him, ME. I don't need anyone above me. When this is over i'll just take care of this annoying girl and be on top, where I belong and everything will be just fine. If I want to be on top, I just can't allow her to turn him evil, Zorpox the conqueror will never awaken." she decided "Even if it means Ron Stoppable has to become some unfortunate accident."

 _Kim felt something swel inside her. A thought her evil alter ego just had. "No!" She thought, "Not happening, not on my watch, over my dead body."_

"Before that annoying part of him is awakened by the attitudinator" Evil Kim thought "I'll just have to kill him."


	24. Chapter 24 Final : Return of a Nightmare

**Hi here's a second version of chapter 24. Plase make sure to tell me which one is the best according to you**

-"Anyway," Shego started, "How are we even going to find them here? Go City isn't Middleton, just knowing they're around here doesn't mean we'll be able to stop their plan."

-"Well," Ron replied "Considering Dr Director is probably their target, all we have to do is to find out where she'll be the most open to their attacks, and that would be..."

-"When she faces my brothers," Shego concluded "So all we have to do is to go to the spot where they are wrecking havoc. That makes sense."

-"When we're here," Ron continued "We look for the most suited places for an ambush and that's where we'll find them."

-"I'll take on Kimmie," Shego said with a grin "Being able to face her while being on the good guys' side that'll be a new experience for me. You handle Electronique, she maybe be good with machines but she isn't that good of a fighter."

Shego was in her element, fighting was something she was prepared for, Ron couldn't help but notice how similar it was to being with Kim. Both of them were confidents, both of them were extremely good fighters and extremely talented...

-"And the most important thing," Shego concluded "We must absolutely avoid being hit by this thing. If the ray hit either of us it's game over. Do you get it?"

-"Roger that." Ron said with a smile "Don't worry, being able to dodge properly is mandatory when it comes to being a sidekick."

The rest of the flight was silent, way more tense than any of the fight he had experienced with Kim. usually both of them kept talking until they arrived to their destination but today, Ron wasn't exactly in that kind of mood.

He had seen his oldest friend side with a villain, been locked up by an organisation he considered to be on his side, stolen an aircraft from said organisation, and was now heading for a fight with a villain who was able to turn heroes into villains. And Kim.

No matter how experienced he was with take over the world stitches, that was on a whoile other level. Especially since he didn't have his usual partner with him. More than anyone he knew the Diablo stitch had been mostly a fluke, he had taken advantage of the fact that everyone was underestimating him and had simply gone all out with his guts, his anger from the rejection he had experienced fuelling his determination.

Now the circumstances were completely different. Now it was do or die, and he couldn't just charge head on as he had with Drakken. He had to keep his head cool. For the first time in years he began to realize the burden Kim had to shoulder for all these years. And the enormous responsability that came with it.

He turned toward Shego, she was calm, focused, sharp, ready to fight at any moment. If only he could be like that...

-"Relax," She said, "No matter what you think you're one of the few guys that ever beat me, have some damn confidence. And if you start doubting, remember you have a reliable partner by your side." She finished with a grin.

-"Thanks." Ron replied, feeling a bit better. "Let's do this."

Finally, Shego stopped the aircraft on a roof nearby the scene. Hego, Mego and Wego were down there, wrecking havoc on the central plaza. "Let's finish by foot or they'll spot us."

-"How do you know it's here?" Ron asked "Maybe they'll move. Shouldn't we stay in the aircraft?"

-"Look more closely," Shego replied "They are staying in the area on purpose," she showed him "They are baiting the officers in coming for them even though it would be much easier for them to escape now than later, when the renforcments arrive."

Ron simply nodded and followed her. They circled around the area checking every roof while making an effort in staying discreet. As they finally returned to the aircraft empty-handed Ron couldn't hide his frustration.

-"Where the hell are they?" He shouted "We looked at every roof around the plaza and didn't find anything." He stopped "Maybe we're wrong and are just getting in Dr Director's way, you think if we apologize and show them we just wanted to help they will understand?"

-"Stop doubting yourself!" Shego shouted angrily "You think if Kimmie was here she would doubt her instincts? If you want people to look at you more seriously, then start by taking your ideas more seriously."

-"But we checked everywhere." Ron replied "Dr Director will probably be here soon, it's not as if they can magically pop on the scene at the right time..." He froze. The right time. It as so easy, so simple they actually missed it. Something someone like Dr Director or any professionnal would consider too ridiculous to even bother checking there. He knew where they were.

-"What?" Shego asked as Ron seemed lost in thoughts "You okay?"

-"Shego," He started "Do you trust me?"

-"You have something in mind." Shego simply stated.

-"Yes," Ron replied as he motionned her to come closer as he explained his idea to her.

Meanwhile, Kim and Electronique were already ready to welcome Global Justice's Director.

-"This is boring," Electronique started "When is she coming? She won't let a major city being destroyed right?"

-"No, she'll come," Kim replied "She won't let someone pull another one on her, her pride won't allow it. She'll come straight to us. Of course they'll check the nearby roofs but they'll never check here." Kim paused "What I'm worried about is the aftermath. She won't let anyone else be in charge."

 _"Dr Director," Kim's mind thought "You must see through this, it's a trap... Please not you too."_

-"Ahh, but I've already thought about this from the very beginning." Electronique replied "And you're my proof it works, you see don't you think it's strange you let me be in charge with your straight type A personnality?" Electronique asked with a grin.

-"No," Kim replied "I must say I didn't think about it."

-"And that's the beauty of it," Electronique said "My new version of the attitudinator not only turns you evil but after a while it also makes you less prideful, less of a leader, more of a follower." She paused "I'm sure you've had those nasty thoughts about taking my place, what do you think about these now?"

Kim now realized that taking her leader's place was not something so appealing now, it was such a hassle, as a matter of fact she was fine following Electronique orders for the rest of her life. "You..." Kim stuttered as she tried to understand what was happening.

-"You see," Electronique cut her "The problem with villains is that we're individualists, we don't work well as a team without a proper chain of command, and the good ones would never follow my orders so I had to find something. Something that would allow us to rule the world without any trouble. Don't you agree."

The more Electronique was talking, the more Kim found herself agreeing with her, her desire to overthrow Electronique had all but vanished. "Yes, I agree." Kim said.

-"Good," Electronique replied "We should keep on looking then, we don't want to miss our only shot at victory right?"

Kim smiled and went back to her position. She thought about her other plan. This one, she was still going to follow through it, Ron was way too dangerous as a villain and some part of her realized there was a slight chance, considering his past achievment as a Zorpox that he could be better than her at this. And she wouldn't allow that. She was fine following her leader but being ranked under HIM? That wasn't happening. No, the moment she would find him, Ron Stoppable would be the victim of an unfortunate accident. After that, her only rival would be Shego but she already knew she was better than her.

 _Kim felt herself disgusted by the way the other Kim was thinking, it was RON. Wasn't she supposed to be some remote part of her? Shouldn't she feel something for him? Or was there really a part of her that desired Ron's death?_

-"Alright," Electronique said "Here comes the prize, get ready and go for the win."

Kim watched Dr Director closely, she was still too far to be hit, at that distance she would be able to see it coming and dodge it. Just a few more seconds before the right moment, then she would open and shoot.

At that moment the wall on their left exploded. Plasma started to pour inside the clock-tower. As they turned their head the two villains were met by familiar forms. One was a former enemy for both, the other a former sidekick for one.

-"Nice deduction, Ron." Shego said with a grin as she busted the wall of the tower in a cloud of dust.

-"Well," Ron replied "All clock-towers have a space behind the clock for maintenance and some can even open at that point too."

-"How did you get so knowledgeable about clock-towers anyway," Shego continued as they landed.

-"Video games, mostly" Ron replied with a smile "Comics also help."

As the dust cleared they were met with the sight of Shego's former enemy and Ron's former partner.

-"Let's go." Shego said as she dashed toward Kim.

Kim was already in position, waiting for Shego to come to her. "Come." she said "I've already made a habbit of beating you as a hero, it won't be different as a villain."

-"Whatever, Kimmie." Shego replied "Today it'll be different."

-"And why would it be?" Kim asked as the two women started their dance, a dance of claws and fists, of slashs and kicks, a dance that wouldn't stop until one of them would end up knocked out.

-"Tonight," Shego said as Ron leaped toward Electronique "I have a reliable partner by my side, I'm sure you know him and how nice it feels to have him with you."

-"Him?" Kim said with a slight laugh "You're really starting to lose your edge Shego if you're starting to rely on such losers."

Shego's smile instantly died and all the traces of the usual happiness she had when she faced Kim left her face. "I guess I won't have that much fun tonight," She said.

-"Really?" Kim replied "I thought you always liked these little fights, I used to put it on you enjoying being inferior considering you stayed under Drakken all this time."

-"You're right," She answered "I usually enjoyed these fights with Kimmie, that's why I'll kick your ass in a flash and make her come back." The two women continued their deadly dance "The Kim Possible I know and have come to respect after all our encounters would never keep chatting in a fight like a second rate villain, she would never let a damn machine like Electronique order her around, and she would never EVER call her partner that supported her through all these missions a loser."

-"Let's settle this then." Kim conclued before focusing completely on her fight. From now on, it was war. And there would be only one winner.

Ron leaped toward Electronique who couldn't help but wonder why Kim would consider him so useless while Shego seemed to hold him in high esteem. Why would he stay in Kim Possible's shadow for so long but be able to save the world by himself?

"In the end," she thought "are you amazing or not?"

She was quickly overwhelmed by Ron at close range. She simply didn't have the skills required to keep him at bay. As she kept falling back she managed to leap and create some distance between them.

"If I can't beat you like that," she thought "I simply have to win in another way." She grabbed one of her device and flipped a switch. Some electrical bolas headed toward Ron. Who jumped above them. The next thing was some kind of taser like the one Kim had used on Shego, Ron dodged again and kept pressing forward.

"He's good," Electronique thought as she grabbed the attitudinator. "If i can't beat you, I just have to get you on my side."

She turned toward Ron only to find him to be right in front of her "Shit" she thought, Ron delivered a strong blow that sent her reeling, he stuck to her, knowing if he gave her some space she would just use her invention on him. And that wasn't happening. She kept enduring until she found the opening she needed. Ron sent a kick flying toward her face, she swayed back to avoid it, grabbed another one of her devices and dropped a small bomb at Ron's feet. Ron had to jump back to avoid the explosion, "Shit" he thought, i gave her space.

-"You're mine!" Electronique shouted as she pointed the attitudinator toward Ron.

While Ron faced Electronique, Kim had to use every bit of her knowledge in martial arts to avoid getting knocked out by an angry Shego. "Why?" She thought "I won against her every single time, why am i losing now?"

Shego couldn't help but see the look on Kim's face. "Ho, so Kimmie's wondering why she's losing?" She said "Want me to tell you?" she said as she delivered a vicious hit to Kim's ribs. She kept pressing forward, "You see, Kim's strongest point wasn't her martial art's knowledge or her gadgets, it was her drive for victory that made her so frightening." Another kick to the same place. "She would do anything to do what she was here to do, because people had entrusted her with something, their safety, something precious to them or even their life." A punch to the face. "Someone like you who only follows someone because you have been flashed with a ray, do you think you could have this kind of commitment?" A puch in the nose "You're just some little part of Kimmie that took all the space, something like you can't even dream of defeating me, SO STOP DEFILING HER BODY WITH YOUR PETTY SCHEMES!" She roared as she delivered a formidable kick right in Kim's stomach.

Kim's body was sent flying. And crashed into Ron's back. The impact pushed both of them forward right in front of Electronique who activated the attitudinator. The ray left the machine and engulfed the villainess as well as the two friends.

-"Shit," Shego said as she ran for the device only to be met with a kick to the body that sent her reeling.

On the ground, Electronique was unconcious, probably due to the shock of having been hit by the attitudinator's ray when she wasn't expecting it, Kim was slowly getting up, holding her head as she was having a headache. And in front of Shego stood Ron, holding the attitudinator in his hands.

-"I really must thank this woman after she wakes up, I wouldn't have been able to appear again if it wasn't for her" Ron said before starting a laugh Shego had only heard once, a laugh that even today still sent shivers down her spine.

-"BOOOOYAHAHAHA !" Ron finished laughing before looking at her and started licking his lips "Now, let's get to work."


	25. Chapter 25 : Strongest Foe

**Hi guys, new chapter. I think I fixed my problem and now this story will probably be easier to read, I hope you'll enjoy it. As usual feel free to read and review, it really helps. Here comes the story.**

-"You gotta be kidding me..." Shego sighed as she witnessed the return of her worst nightmare.

-"Oh, Shego..." Ron started with a grin "That hurts, you know. A man has feelings. Don't you enjoy the return of the only competent boss you ever had? Don't you miss working with someone who can actually deliver?"

-"I'd rather have my friend back," She replied sharply, preparing herself for the inevitable fight that was coming along.

-"Friend, friend, friend," he replied "What's with everyone wanting to be my friend all of a sudden? Kim, you never paid me that much attention in more than ten years of friendship, Tara, the cheerleaders, the jocks, even Bonnie seem like they want to be my friend. And of course, you." He continued pointing Shego "Friend, always the good friend, I'm sick of that word."

-"I already miss the old Ron," Shego said sharply "at least he knew the true value of this word."

-"Oh, I think I can fix that," Ron said with a smile as he pointed the attitudinator on her, "A blast of this baby and you wouldn't think like that anymore. You would be on my side, without the possibility of you snapping at me thanks to Electronique adjustments, that's something I'd really like."

Suddently he jumped and landed further away with a backflip, letting Kim who had tried to sneak up on him stumble toward Shego as he dodged her attempt.

-"Ladies, ladies no need to fight," He said with a smirk "I'm sure the Ronman is enough to handle both of you. In any way."

-"Ewww, gross." Kim replied as she took her fighting stance.

-"Really?" Ron replied "Talking to me like that isn't the best plan if you want to get Ron's friendship back, you mean girl."

-"You're nothing like Ron!" Kim shouted back angrily.

-"Really? Didn't Electronique explain to you how this machine worked?" Ron replied "I'm not Zorpox or any villain's personnality inside your friend's body, I am him and he's me." He paused "I'm his deepest secrets, the thoughts he would never share with anyone, the feelings he keeps for himself and never shows, his darkest inner desires. I am him and he's mine, just like the girl that came out after you were shot by the attitudinator is also you."

-"You're wrong," Shego replied as she stepped forward "That thing was nothing like Kimmie, you can't just break someone's moral values and expect him to stay the same, the moment you do that, you already tamper with the essence of the person. You aren't Ron, no matter what you say."

-"Oooh," Ron said "Shego coming to Kim's rescue, that's new. Come on Shego, didn't you like it better when it was just the two of us? At my house? Even on the road until there, wasn't it better when *Kimmie* was out of the way?" He smiled as he continued "It could be again, you know? Just let me zap you with this thing and everything would be so much easier." He waved the attitudinator. He smirked. "No more people to tell you what to do and how to do it, no more limits and rules, are you sure you want to pass on this?" He stepped forward, "You and me, ruling over the world, wouldn't you like it? I bet we could also have some good moments together."

Shego sighed. She couldn't deny it was tempting. It was everything she wanted when she decided to come working for Drakken. A few weeks ago she would have agreed in a heartbeat. Hell, a few weeks ago, this machine would have been unnecessary to convince her. A few weeks ago. A lot can happen in a few weeks. And for Shego, Ron Stoppable happened. No matter what, she wouldn't betray the faith he had placed in her.

-"One day," She started "A blonde no one would take seriously told me he wouldn't give up on me, now it's up to me not to give up on him." She prepared herself for the fight.

Ron's face frowned. "Shame," He said as he raised the attitudinator and fired at the two heroes.

Both Kim and Shego dodged the blast and rushed toward Ron. He quickly discarded the machine, knowing his opponents were too good to be hit by something so obvious.

Kim was confident, the last time she had faced Ron at school the fight had been over in a flash, she had been able to overpower him quickly despite the attitudinator clouding her emotions and with Shego by her side they should be able to finish this and return Ron to normal without any real problem.

Shego wasn't thinking that way. She didn't forget what had happened the last time Ron had turned into a villain : he had managed to completely suppress her despite her plasma powers and to have a close fight with Kim. Even though she still remembered that, she still thought Kim and her would be able to win if they worked together. Kim was undeniably better than last year and their countless fights had given them a great knowledge of each other fighting style and abilities.

Ron was waiting for them, he had taken what seemed to be a martial art stance even though none of them knew anything about it.

He instantly had to fall back due to the constant pressure applied by the tag team. After all this was a team made of the most famous hero this country had to offer and someone that used to be know as one of the strongest villain who had been imbued with plasma powers. Even though Ron was significantly better than he used to since the attitudinator had powered up his confidence and determination, it didn't make him stronger, faster or a better fighter overall. He took a middle kick from Kim that he couldn't parry and couldn't move in time to avoid a slash from Shego's claws and the two women started to think that maybe, they could finish this swiftly and return Ron to his normal condition.

Contrary to what they thought though, the fight continued as a much closer fight than what they thought it would be. Ron was still taking some hits but also delivered some strong counters that both Kim and Shego had trouble to dodge, he also wasn't falling back that much from their attacks anymore.

The first reason was because of his durability, Kim had been shocked at first by how well Ron was taking hits before remembering the way he had broken through every single one of Drakken's defences including Shego despite heavy wounds.

The second one was that if Kim and Shego had managed to know each other's fighting style through their fights, Ron had also managed to learn something too by watching their fights from the sidelines. After watching Kim and Shego's fights countless times he was used to this display of amazing abilities. Even though he had never been a part of their fights until the Diablo stitch when he had fought Shego he was used to seen these attacks. He wouldn't be caught off guard by anything they could throw at him.

And finally, despite all these encounters, Kim and Shego weren't able to work fully together. It's one thing to know each other's style, it's another one to be able to work as a single entity just like Kim and Ron. The only way to be able to achieve something like that is through countless hours spent together. Something they were ultimatly lacking despite their shining talent and ability to adapt to each other.

At some point, both Kim and Shego had realized something. Ron had stopped falling back. he was simply standing there, avoiding and parrying their attacks. He also seemed to be moving faster than usual and he looked different. As if a slight glow had appeared, covering his body.

At long last, Ron delivered a kick to Kim's midsection and used the spin to force his elbow toward Shego's face. Both girls had to fall back, wondering what was happening.

-"Damn, getting a grip on this is really hard." Ron said, "Even though," He opened his hand and the same sword Shego had seen at Bueno Nacho's HQ appeared in his hand "I think I've got the hang of it now." He smirked, "So, ladies. Did you finish your warm up?" He paused looking at their bewildered faces with amusment before rushing forward "Let's get this fight started then."


	26. Chapter 26 : The end of the dream

**Hello everyone, This chapter was probably one of the hardest I had to write but I had a lot of fun doing it (I know it sounds strange). It is a sad and painful chapter and I'd love to have your review about it if you liked it. If you think there is a rating issue about this chapter, please tell me, it's something that was really bugging me while I was writing it. Anyway, here comes the story**

The fight wasn't going well. Not at all. Since Ron had pulled out the sword out of nowhere he was putting his opponents under a lot of pressure. They were almost fully focused on defending themselves and the few attacks they managed to deliver weren't doing anything which could contribute to halt Ron's rush.

Kim had already been cut slightly on her left arm and a few bruises were marking her belly, proof of the hard time she had when it came to enduring Ron's assault. Shego on the other hand wasn't doing much better, she had her hands full with avoiding Ron's sword and her arms were sore from all the hits she had to parry. If not for her plasma powers she would have already been hit pretty badly.

But even considering all of these problems their situation was getting worse at an alarming rate. Shego now had no more doubts, Ron was definitly getting faster and his hits were more powerful. And he was glowing, just like his sword. She had only seen this once, when she had faced him at the Bueno Nacho's HQ, his sword had changed shape and had been glowing during their fight. But this time it wasn't the same.

During their last fight, the sword had a slight deep blue glow, close to the color of deepwaters when you're looking at the see away from the coast. It had some sort of a soothing presence, as if it was calming you down. This time it looked like a dark, yellow glow as if she was looking at a burning fire, it was engulfing both Ron and his weapon and she could feel the hostility coming for it.

It was like she was facing a completely different guy. And she was, but if things continued like that, they would lose before having a chance to turn Ron back to normal. She had a brief glance toward Kim and saw she had come to the same conclusion. The teen hero jumped back, still thinking about how quicly things had become sour. If she hadn't been captured by Electronique things wouldn't have turned like this, if she had managed to do something while being trapped in her body Ron wouldn't have been turned into a vilain while she got back to her senses. It was her fault. She had to make up for it.

She dashed toward a table and grabbed one of Electronique's devices she threw toward Ron. Shego understood what the redhead was trying to do and jumped back, igniting her hand and throwing a bolt of plasma at the device who exploded, creating a smokescreen.

When the smoke vanished, Ron was alone in the room except for an unconscious Electronique. The attitudinator had disappeared. He smirked.

-"You think you can beat me like that ?" He shouted, "I know you won't escape, it's not in your nature. Do you really think you can hide like cowards and just snipe me from afar? I'll find you and i'll finish what I started, BOOYHAHAHA!"

Meanwhile, Kim and Shego sat against a wall ,trying to catch their breath.

-"This version of Ron really talks too much, don't you think?" Kim asked.

Shego couldn't prevent a slight laugh from escaping her lips. "Yeah, true." She said "So, how does it work?"

-"Well," Kim replied "I think this, here, is what you use to adjust the size of the ray, this way we can avoid to hit someone else beside Ron even though they're close, however if the two of the are in contact, the ray will siply extand from one to the other, just like it did for the two of us when Electronique shot."

-"So we can pinpoint the shot to hit him only," Shego said "I think the best game plan is for one of us to fight him at close range while the other take the shots for afar."

-"Agreed," Kim said while handing the attitudinator to Shego "Let's go."

-"No," Shego declared "With my plasma powers I am more suited to fighting him than you, also even though you stopped the bleeding from your left arm you still aren't at 100%, I am the best choice." She said returning the device to Kim.

Kim watched Shego, refusing to take it. "That doesn't matter," She replied "I'm at close range."

-"Are you stupid?" Shego said angrily, grabbing Kim by the shoulders "This isn't Ron out there, if you think he'll hesitate before going for the kill then..."

-"That's not it!" Kim interrupted her. "It's my fault if we're here, my fault if things went so bad, so wrong, if Ron is now a villain trying to take over the world. It all comes down to my decision not to trust him at the prom." She took a deep breath, "It's my responsability and I have to bear it. All of it. And I'm ready to put everything on the line for that. Can you say the same?" She finished, challenging Shego with a stare.

Shego had often seen Kim's determination during missions but she had never seen her like that. She knew the redhead wouldn't budge. "You'd better not die on me Kimmie." She said, grabbing the attitudinator.

-"Just make the shot," Kim replied "That's all that matters."

The two heroes headed out for a final fight.

-"Oh, you finally came out?" Ron said "Are you done hiding?"

Kim and Shego said nothing, they knew they were probably facing the most dangerous villain they had ever faced after all their respective hero careers. This wasn't the time for a chat.

Kim simply dashed forward, heading for a close range fight, while Shego took her distance and threw some plasma bolts at Ron who dodged them easily.

As soon as Kim got close, Shego stopped firing plasma, fearing that she could hit Kim and simply waited, the attitudinator in her hand for the right moment. The moment where Ron would be showing an opening. That was all she needed. She waited, sharpening her sense for the decisive moment.

Kim resumed the fight, completely focused. She knew she couldn't win but today wasn't about winning, it wasn't about being better than the other, it was about saving Ron and she would do everything she had to do in order to make that happen. However, Ron had been much stronger than what she expected and she couldn't seem to put any pressure on him. He was stronger, he was faster and he knew her inside out. Cuts started to appear on her arms, her belly and on her face. Her first cut on her left arm had started bleeding again and she was starting to get tired. She still didn't find any opportunity to throw him off balance. He was way too careful about Shego and the attitudinator and kept moving around, using his superior speed.

He knew her way too well for any of her move to have any effect on him. Then she remembered. She remembered how she had seen him winning, the night of the prom, even against Shego who was better than him. It could work, even better since he knew her inside out. If she couldn't have a decisive win, all she had left was an all or nothing gamble. Something he wouldn't expect.

She recieved a vicious kick to her midsection and lost her balance for the pain. She heard his laugh as the sword started to go down toward her neck. She should have backed away, if she didn't want to be seriously injured. Instead she dashed forward. The look of shock that came on Ron's face didn't escape her. Her charge was clumsy but she still managed to get close enough to dodge the blade.

He pulled his arms back, protecting his midsection from Kim's arms. At this distance that was all she would be able to hit. He was wrong. He understood that when he recieved Kim's forhead in his jaw. It was nothing like one of her usual flashy, skilled attacks. It was something she came up with out of desperation. And it worked, for the first time, Ron lost ground. But that also gave him the space he needed to use his sword. She saw the blade coming from her side and, remembering all these stupid action movies she saw with her friend, did something completely unexpected. She grabbed the blade between the palms of her hands succesfully blocking his slash.

For the first time of the fight, a trace of fear appeared on Ron's face, if he lost the blade he would lose his mastery of mystical monkey power since he wasn't at a level where he could handle it without the lotus blade. But if he lost that he would be an easy prey for them. As these thoughts crossed his mind, for a split second, he stopped moving. That was more than what Shego needed. She pulled the trigger, targeting Ron, a beam left the device, heading straight for him.

-"Don't you dare," he mumbled "look down on me!" He used all his strengh to pull his sword out of Kim's hand and put all of his fear, anger and hate in a single thrust.

The collision between Ron and the beam created a flash of light which momentarily blinded Shego.

When she opened her eyes again, Ron was on his knees, in front of Kim, grabbing her by the shoulders.

-"Kim, hey, don't pull that trick on me heh? Kp, come on!" Ron said, fear easily visible in his voice.

Shego's stare fell on the teen hero. she was lying on the floor, unconscious, the sword piercing straight through her midsection.

-"Shit," She said, dashing toward the teen hero. "Kimmie!" She shouted as she kneeled beside Ron.

-"Kp, please." He said "Wake up... you can't just leave like that. You can't go, not like this. Can't you do anything? Then open your eyes and wake up! "

Kim's eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes. "Ron?" She whispered, "Is that you? Really you?"

-"Yes, Kim." He said "It's me. It's going to be alright, We're going to take good care of you. Oh Kim, I'm so sorry..."

-"Shh," She whispered "It's ok Ron, it's not your fault, it's me, if I had been a better friend, at the prom if I had..." she coughed painfully.

Shego got up, went to a window and started blasting plasma outside to attract the attention of the Global Justice aircrafts who were close. One started heading toward the tower.

-"No, Kim" Ron replied "It's not..."

-"Yes it is," She cut him weakly "I should have done more, all these years, more for the ones who were bullying you or the ones who didn't get your name right..." she coughed again, fighting to stay awake a bit more, "but it's going to be okay now, you have Shego, Felix, Monique, even Tara and Bonnie. It's going to be alright, it's..." She closed her eyes.

-"KP?" Ron said weakly, shaking her to wake her up "KP!" He shouted "No, no, no, you can't leave, not like that..." Two Global Justice agents had entered by the window and froze for a second at the sight in front of them. You could see the traces of the fight everywhere, the burns on the walls, the traces of explosion, the unconscious villain but everything was desperatly silent.

A silence only broken by the sound of the sobs of a blonde teenager, holding his friend in his arms. Covered in blood.


	27. Chapter 27 : Debriefing

**Hello everyone, I'm back from my holidays, i was completely cut from the internet and it felt good. Here is the new chapter, I hope you were not too worried about Kim, or maybe you were. Don't hesitate to review as usual. Here comes the chapter.**

The flight to Go City's General hospital was quiet. At least Ron thought so. He didn't hear a single thing the whole time, he didn't look at anyone, not even at Shego who was right next to him. Kim was at the back of the aircraft, the Global Justice doctors doing whatever they could to tend to her wound. The sword still inside of her to prevent her to bleed out too much.

Ron simply sat there, on his seat. Looking at his hand in disgust. He had hit Kim and Shego with this hand, he had used the lotus blade against them with this hand. He had stabbed Kim with this hand. He may have killed her with this hand. The worst was that he could remember this moment very well. Maybe he wasn't in his normal state when had done it but he remembered the feelings he had when stabbed her. This anger, this hate, the desire to hurt her, it was coming from him. He knew it and it made him sick. Until now he never thought himself as someone dangerous, even after what had happened at Bueno Nacho's HQ he still considered himself as someone who would never hurt anybody. Even less hurting Kim.

"Is there something wrong with me?" He thought "Am I really like that?"

He got out of his trance by a hit on his head. "We've arrived." Shego simply said. Kim was left in the care of the doctors of the hospital by Global Justice, Ron tried to follow her but was stopped by the director of Global Justice.

-"Let them take care of it," she said "Then won't allow you to follow her anyway. Besides, we have to talk."

Ron followed her without a word, of course they wouldn't let him come with her. It was his fault anyway. He was dragged to a nearby building where Global Justice agents were waiting. Both Ron and Shego followed Dr Director to an empty room and sat on the floor.

-"Here," She said "I had this place completely checked, no one will hear us." She positionned herself in front of Ron. "Tell me what happened."

-"Isn't it obvious?" Ron said painfully "Just leave me alone."

She grabbed his face. "None of this is your fault." She said, her eyes locked to his, "You saved me, a lot of top Global Justice agents and probably a lot more people by going after Electronique against my orders." She shook her head "Keeping you out of it was a mistake, I should have trusted you and your years of experience by Kim's side more than that and I'm sorry about it. But now I need you to tell me what happened in here."

Ron started talking, he explained how he and Shego and managed to track down Electronique, how he found out where she was, how they attacked her and Kim, How the attitudinator turned Kim back to normal and him evil. Kim and Shego's fight against him and the outcome.

The head of Global Justice then turned toward Shego who confirmed Ron's version in a few words before coming back to the big issue. "How is Kimmie's condition?" she asked "The docs are still working." She replied, "fortunatly the heart wasn't damaged otherwise she would be dead already, they say one of her lung was pierced and her liver was also damaged by the sword. They had to put her in an induced coma and under artificial breathing but she's not done yet." She was trying to put up a brave front but anyone, including Ron could see the worry on her face, Dr Director had always considered Kim as someone exceptionnal, someone who maybe one day would come after her as the head of Global Justice, someone who was so close of her young reckless and idealistic self it was uncanny even though Kim had done much more as a 17 years old highschooler than her at the same moment. She couldn't show it but she cared about her. But now wasn't the time for that, now instructions had to be given in order for this stitch to be solved.

She took a deep breath, "Now, here is what we're going to say," she started "The sword is part of Ron's usual kit on dangerous missions, a lot of people already saw him use it during the Diablo stitch anyway, Electronique took it from him and managed to stab Kim before being stopped by the combined work of her partner and a newly reformed villain." She paused "As for team Go they were already turned back to normal and are testifying that Electronique indeed had the ability to create a machine like the attitudinator. We'll follow them on that which will protect Kim from any accusation about what she did while she wasn't in her normal state."

Ron looked up, "I can't say that." he replied "I stabbed her, I should take responsability for it and..."

-"Ron," She inerrupted him "at this moment you're considered as a hero, someone who is not as famous as Kim but people still know you saved the world not so long ago, and from a genuine threat. How do you think they will react when they wil know that this hero stabbed Kim Possible, the world famous teen hero? The media will eat you alive, you'll have trucks in front if your house for the rest of your life. And no matter what you think, I feel responsible for Kim and you so be sure I won't let that happen."

-"At least," he pleaded "let me tell the truth to a few people? Kim's family, our tech guy Wade, maybe a few of her friends..."

-"Her family and Wade, and in private." She said sharply "Apart from that, this story stays here. Did both of you understand?"

Ron and Shego shared a look, the former villainess was the first to speak up "I'm okay with it if Ron is." Both turned their gaze toward the teen who held his head in his hands. Shego was the first to react, her arm slid around Ron's shoulders. "This isn't your fault." she started "This isn't on you, don't blame yourself for that."

-"But I wanted to." He replied "I wanted to hurt her. To make her pay for everything. The prom, the dance when she left me in a locker, her date with Mankey when i was in amazony, the moments where she left me behind, for every single moment people used the wrong name when they were talking about me. I wanted payback for all of this. It was me, it was..."

His rant was interrupted by Shego's hand going straight for his face, the slap was so strong, Dr Director was sure people outside the room had heard it.

-"This isn't your fault." She growled "You know, I've learned a lot over the last months, but the most important thing I've learnt is that the difference between a good guy and a villain isn't in what they think or what they want, it's in their willpower. The hero will have the willpower to supress these urges of stealing what he want, hitting the guy who is annoying him, simply he is able to suppress those selfish urges instead of giving in to them." She paused, "You wanting to pay her back isn't abnormal, it doesn't make you a villain or a terrible person, it's your ability to ignore those desires and go past them that makes you a hero. So I don't want you to apologize for what you did when a machine robbed you of this. This wasn't you, Ron. And you aren't that freak Kimmie and I fought back there."

Ron looked toward Shego's eyes, what helped him wasn't her words or the arm warpped around his shoulders to make him feel safe. It was the unwavering belief he saw in the eyes of the former villainess about what she had just said.

He slowly stood up and followed Dr Director outside the room, hoping to hear some good news about Kim's condition. He had stabbed his best friend. Now he had to live with it. And he didn't know which statement was the worst but he was sure to find out at the end of the day.


	28. Chapter 28 : Powerless

Ron got out of what had been used as his debriefing room and headed toward Go City's General hospital. Kim was still in surgery, the doctor he spoke to told him it was good thing since it meant they hadn't given up on saving her. He simply had to sit and wait.

Sit and wait. He hated those words, they were the constant reminder of his complete powerlessness. First it had been his powerlessness to do anything at school, then to be of use during the missions, now it was his powerlessness to save KP.

Ron would be completely unable to say how long he just sat here, waiting for news about Kim's condition, he didn't know if he waited for a long time or if it happened immediatly, if it took hours or minutes. He was simply completely away from the world.

At some point he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, lifted his head and lost himself in the eyes of the woman who he had come to consider a second mother.

-"Are you okay, Ron?" Anne asked as she sat next to him "They're still performing the surgery, at least you didn't get hurt..."

Ron didn't hear the rest. The only thing he heard was that she didn't know. She didn't know it was his doing. She didn't know it was because of him that her daughter was hanging between life and death right now. He watched over her shoulder only to be met by an even more painful sight.

It wasn't just Mrs Dr P and Mr Dr P, the twins, Anne's mother Nana, Kim's uncle slim and even Joss, the entire Possible clan was here. Pain, fear and powerlessness were visible in their eyes but despite all that they all took a moment to come to him and talk to him. Mr Dr P told him it wasn't his fault, Jim, Tim and Joss asked him if he had captured and Nana asked him how he was dealing with this.

None of them blamed him. None of them blamed him because none of them knew and that made it even more painful.

Dr Director had told him he would tell Kim's family the truth as ssoon as they got back to Middleton. As the minutes and the hours passed by, keping this for himself was getting harder and harder until the point where it was simply impossible.

He stood up in front of the Possible clan, "I..." he started before being cut off.

The doctor who had told them to wait was coming toward them. Everyone was up in a second, waiting for the verdict.

-"Well..." the doctor started, facing Anne "We managed to stopped the internal bleeding and repair the damage done to her liver. As for her lung, part of it had to be removed since it was too damaged, however we managed to find a transplant fast enough thanks to your daughter's connections and the surgery seems to be a success." He stopped. "I think we can say her life is no longer in danger."

Anne let out a huge sigh and fell back on her chair. Small smiles appeared on the faces of the Possible family. She was safe, Kim was safe.

Ron caught the doctor's look and knew instantly something was wrong. "What?" he asked "What else? She's okay right?"

The doctor took a deep breath, "We had to put her in an induced Coma and under artificial breathing in order for the surgery to succed." He said "As soon as possible we removed it and let her body take over. She's breathing just fine but..."

-"But what?" Anne asked faintly.

The doctor took a deep breath before answering "She's not waking up."

The entire Possible clan started talking at the same time to the point that no one could be heard until James broke the stalemate with a shout.

-"STOP!" He said, getting silence instantly. "What do you mean she's not waking up? You said..."

-"Physically there is no problem." He replied "All her vitals are just fine, but we can't seem to manage to wake her up from her coma."

-"But she will wake up, right?" Joss asked in a whisper. "She'll wake up?"

The doctor took a moment before answering, "I don't know," he finally said "Sometimes you see things like that. People who stay in coma for some time, they wake up after a few weeks, a few months, sometimes a few years..."

-"And most of the time," Anne concluded in a whisper "they don't wake up at all. Right?"

The doctor met her gaze and simply nodded before turning back "I'm sorry," he simply said as he left "We did everything we could."

-"Can we..." James started "Can we see her?"

The doctor nodded, "I'll show you the way." he said.

As they walked in the hospital's hallways, the Possible family wore different faces. Anne looked like she was about to break down at any second, her husband was doing everything he could to support her, Jim and Tim were both trying to comfort Nana who was openly crying, Slim had his hand on his daughter's head who was shaking. Ron was following them, walking soullessly, he knew he should be crying, or trying to comfort someone, or run away, anything but this absence of reaction. But he couldn't. It was like his world had stopped spinning the moment he heard the end of the doctor's statement. Kim might not wake up? Kim might... die?

As this thought crossed his mind he remembered the moment when he had reached out to the little girl who was crying in the sand pit at preschool. He remembered the moment when he had to call his mother so that she brought Walter Nelson and her to the dentist to take care of their braces. He remembred their first mission, when Kim had accidentally recieved a mail about something that was too big for her and she had done it anyway. He rembered their booth at Bueno Nacho, their walks to school...

And the way they had parted ways. The way it would end if she didn't wake up. And fialy, as he entred the room that had been assigned to Kim, as he saw her lying on her hospital bed, the last thing that had supported him during the last hours broke.

Kim might die and there was nothing he could do. Kim might die and it was his fault. Kim might die and the last thing that would stay between them was a fight. And there wasn't anything he could do about it. As he saw her in this room, surrounded by her entire family, the reality of the situation hit him even harder, it was painful, almost suffocating. He couldn't even bring himself to get closer to the bed, he simply let himself fall on the floor and in this room, surrounded by all the people who loved Kim as dearly as him, he started crying.


	29. Chapter 29 : Grief

**Hello, everyone. Sorry for the long absence. I had some really big issues and i kinda lost the will to write and publish for a while. A long while. Anyway, i'm better no and i hope to finish this work even though i'm not even close to the end. Good to be back, hopefully you guys will still enjoy this.  
**  
It had been three days since Kim had been admitted to the middleton general hospital and life had started to settle back into a routine in middle. Or had at least seemed to.  
Over time, the town had come to take Kim's existence as something granted, she was Middletown's main attraction and the town boasted to be the home of the world famous teen hero. Even people who weren't close to her or even outright disliked her aknowledged what her sheer existence represented to everyone in Middleton.  
But not anymore, no more teenage girl that could answer in heartbeat in order to get a lost pet back, find an rare ancient item from a lost civilisation or arrest the biggest criminal freaks in the world.

No more Kim Possible.

During these three days Ron had stayed in his room, never coming out. His phone always close by in case he recieved some miraculous news. He didn't even leave his room when his parents came to see him.  
It was one of the rare moments he had even spoken. His parents tried to confront him about his behavior and Ron had just lashed out at them. He had let out all of his years of accumulated emotions, about the fact they never really cared about him or even bothered to tell him when they were leaving. About how the Possibles had always been more of a family to him that they had and about how he despised them for it. About at some point he had stopped caring about what they thought of him.  
At some point Ron had stopped speaking and closed the door, leaving his dumbfounded parents on the doorstep.

Only Shego managed to talk to him. She made sure he ate something and stayed overall healthy but she could see him wither away as the days went by.  
Ron had lived his entire life with Kim as it's center and even recently, after everything that had happened between them, deep down she was still the one he trusted the most, the one he would rely on. Even though Shego had been amazing these last few months, the weight of his relationship with Kim was unparalleled. The life and death situations they went through, the trust, the friendship, the years they endured side by side had forged a bond stronger that anything could imagine. Master sensei had told him people only realized how much you care about things when they had lost them. Now, after everything, the last few months seemed insignificant compared to the support, the friendship and the partnership they shared over the years.  
The strength of this bond scared Shego sometimes, she wondered if there was even any place in Ron's life next to Kim. She had been touched when Princess had put herself and her future on the line for her. But she knew she had done it for Ron, not for her. She wasn't stupid, she knew the thing that mattered the most to Kim was her relationship with Ron and she would have fought anything that she considered a threat to it. Especially after how she and Drakken had exploited her flaws against her in order to turn her against Ron, which had caused Kim to almost lose her best friend in the process.

Ron was now asleep. Shego stayed next to him, watching him sleep. She cared about the sidekick, more than she would admit it. More than she thought she could care about someone. His breath was finally peaceful as she left the room by the window.

Dr Director was living a nightmare. Having to deal with the loss of America's favourite teen hero was one thing, having to cover up the fact that she was put in a coma by her lifelong friend and partner was harder. And dealing with all the situations which were previously dealt by team possible was a nightmare.  
The number of villains was growing at an alarming rate, probably due to Kim being out of the way and she was only starting to understand how much Kim's existence was important. She always viewed Kim and team Possible as a remarkable asset due to their shocking almost 100% success rate in stopping villains which could cause a lot of damage precisely due to their clumsiness but she never realized how much of a deterrent Kim was. Until she was taken off the board.

Also, today she had to deal with another unpleasant issue. Namely, Shego.  
The former villain was on probation, mostly due to how much team Possible had vouched for her, however that was due to the fact that the world most famous teen hero which had stopped her numerous time was always close by ready to intervene, without Kim, she was afraid the higher ups would try to change the situation Shego was in. Of course this would be a mistake. After studying the case she had realized two things: First, Shego respected the rules set by Gloibal Justice perfectly and second, the reason of Shego's sudden change wasn't due to Kim but to Ron.  
The sidekick had always been an enigma, while people had considered him at best useless if not dangerous for Kim, his solo mission when he dealt with the Little Diablo stitch was nothing but worthy of praise and so was the way he had worked steadily toward Shego's rehabilitation. No matter how hard they tried they couldn't seem to be able to truly grasp the entirety of Ron Stoppable.  
She sighed as she followed the higher ups for another excruciating meeting.

In the middle of the night Ron woke up again, screaming. As he tried to calm down he couldn't help but think about that night. If only he had seen it coming, if he had been able to stop Kim then she wouldn't be unconscious in a hospital room right now.  
If he had been better. Better, faster, stronger. If he had tried harder.  
"No more," he mumbled "I'm not letting this happen ever again. I'm going to do better, to BE better. The best anyone has ever seen."  
He sighed and closed his eyes again and fell asleep.

"I won't lose anymore."


	30. Chapter 30 : Re-Start

**Ok, I realise i also said that last chapter so i'll explain why i wasn't here for months despite me saying i was coming back. I applied to a new College which meant I had new exams coming up and more studying to do. Then i had to move out of my old place to a new one and finally I took the last few months to intensively prepare the bar exam. Everything is pretty much sorted out or will be at the end of the month. I don't know if people still follow this story but if you do let me tell you I don't intend to drop it and intend to update it regularly again. Here it is, the new chapter, finally. And another one so that you forgive me.**

The shock of Kim's condition had stuck Middleton High in a gloomy atmosphere for a while. Then, as always, life had to go on. Bonnie finally got her wish and was voted captain of the cheer squad, even though she didn't seem happy about it. When people asked her about it she only had one answer :

"There is no point in being captain if it's just because Kim isn't here."

Bonnie's new position wasn't the only change at school. Ron hadn't shown up since Kim had ended up in the hospital and no one, even Barkin, dared to question this. Nobody really knew why Kim had been willing to put up with Ron all these years, that's why when Eric had shown up they all thought this was the moment she would choose to *trade up* as they called it while letting her former friend fall in a pit of despair.  
Not only the whole Diablo stitch had changed everything they thought they knew about the blond sidekick but the aftermath made it painfully obvious how being cut from Ron had affected Kim.

Her usual positive, cheerful and confident self had vanished, replaced by a gloomy, hollow shell of her former self. Her usual self had started to come back when she had made the first step on the long road she had in order to redeem herself in Ron's eyes. Meanwhile, Ron's upbeat, bright attitude had also changed. He had become tougher, harder and though he was still kind, his cold behaviour toward Kim had shown them another part of him. And it was a bit scary.

Ron's classmates weren't the only ones distraught by the loss of Kim, Team Possible had seemed simple at first, Kim was the driving force of the duo and Ron was the clumsy sidekick that was more here for moral support than real action. Now everything was all over the place. Ron and Kim, Kim and Shego, Ron and Shego, all these pieces were the ones Dr Director had to manage in order to make sure things would remain as normal as possible.

Now, as she faced the higher ups, she was cursing internally at how stupid these idiots were. A bunch of morons who hadn't been on the field in more than decades and were more preoccupied by their career than by the facts.

If anything had been a success since the Diablo situation, it had been the relocating of Shego. She had followed every rule they had set up, never causing any incident and now these idiots wanted to put an end to this and get her back to jail despite the obvious results they had been getting.

"I keep telling you, I have no reason to think the incident with Kim Possible will negatively impact Shego's rehabilitation process." She said angrily "If anything, us turning our back on her now will only push her back to villainy, and with Kim Possible out of the way we really don't need that." She hated the way these meetings were organised, all of them appearing on screens rather than being in the room, she hated the power it gave them and the way these old men were looking down on her as if she was a child being lectured.

"And we think," One of them replied slowly, "that it is precisely because of miss Possible's absence that we need to pre-emptively neutralise the threat posed by Shego."

"And I'm saying" she replied angrily "That we have no reason to think she even poses a threat in the first place. She kept her word perfectly and as you can see, the reports my agents are giving me daily are rather dull if not boring. She visit miss Possible frequently, mr Stoppable too and mostly stay inside her assigned residence."

"Dr Director, please don't get so emotional about this." he replied with a smirk, "Someone in your position should be able to keep her cool. Anyway, we have come to a decision."

Betty was fuming internally but managed to keep a poker face despite the obvious disdain from her interlocutor.

"We decided it was for the best that the criminal known as Shego was apprehended and put inside a fitting secure facility." he paused "Where she should have been sent a long time ago."

"There is no facility we have that can keep Shego indefinitely." Betty replied "She is too valuable for no one to break her out of it as soon as..."

"Dr Director." she was interrupted, "Get rid of the delusion that this is a conversation between equals. We are giving you an order and you will follow this order or we will find someone who will."

Betty wanted to scream her anger at the screen and punch the guy in the face but none of this would serve her purpose right now, so she nodded. "Understood sir. I will assemble a team and we will act in three days."

"Why so much time?" the reply came "Just put her in custody tonight and be done with it."

Betty's sharp answer came instantly "Shego is a highly experienced fighter who has experience on both sides of the law. If Global justice is to apprehend her we are going to do it the right way. And the right way takes time."

The man raised his hands, "Alright, alright," he said "You have three days, not one more."

The screens went black.

Betty sighed. Sometimes she hated her job. Being forced to listen to people more preoccupied by their own career than the collective good. Shego wasn't a threat anymore, she knew it. She knew it wasn't due to the threat of jail, the myth than prison could reform people had been debunked years ago, however one had to be blind to miss the fact that Kim Possible's blond sidekick had found a way to reach out to the green villainess. If she didn't know better she would even think something was going on between them.

And now these idiots were going to crush the only shot they had in reforming one of the most dangerous criminal alive. Not a chance, she wouldn't let that happen. She left the room and headed for her office.

"Dr Director?" a man in a suit asked.

"I'm busy," she replied "If it isn't an emergency see with agent Du."

"Agent Du has been sent back to the council for a report on the situation, due to the circumstances they think a better cooperation between them and you would be the best, to avoid any mistake." he replied with a smile. "They've sent me to second you in his stead, I'm agent Lane."

Betty stopped. A babysitter, they had sent her a babysitter. Someone to spy on her and make sure she stayed in line. She wasn't very fond of Will Du, the man had his faults : he was arrogant, close minded and overly cautious but he was loyal to her. Now she couldn't even rely on her number 2 to do the work.

She plastered a smile on her face and turned to face him "Of course, agent Lane, welcome aboard, first get to the lobby and get your access codes and report to my office in five minutes, then we will take care of the Shego Problem."

"Right away Dr Director." the man replied before turning back.

As soon as he was out of sight Betty sprinted to her office, as soon as he had his access codes he would never leave her side, she needed to use the time she had now wisely.

She picked up her secure line and dialed a number. After what seemed to be a long wait, someone picked up the communicating device.

"Team Possible, Ron Stoppable speaking."

"Ron, listen to me, and make sure to remember everything because if you can't find a solution in three days, Shego is as good as back to jail."


	31. Chapter 31 : Team Possible 2

Ron put down his Kimmunicator thinking about what Dr Director had told him. The higher ups in Global Justice weren't happy with the whole Shego situation and were preparing an operation to put her back to jail. Despite the fact that Shego wasn't a villain anymore.

And she had even told him not to call back, that she was under surveillance, and that he had to assume it was the same for him and Shego.

What was he going to do? He didn't know anything about this. He and Kim were putting villains behind bars, they weren't meddling in those things. If only he knew someone who had more experience in this field.

And he did. But that would imply to tell Shego that the world didn't care aboiut her efforts, that she would always be branded as a criminal no matter what she did. And it wasn't fair. But it was either that or she would end up back in prison. And he would never accept that.

First of all, he had to take care of the surveillance. And he knew the man for the job.

After a short while, a familiar face popped up on the kimmunicator. "Wade, how are you? Any news for the Ron Man about Kim?" he said while typing furiously. * _**Can you secure this communication? ***_

"Ron, you know it's gonna take a long time before Kim..." **beep beep bilip,** Wade read the message and looked at Ron before typing furiously on the computer "...Sorry about that, before a change in Kim's condition occur, if it ever occures." He stopped typing. "We're clear. What's the stitch Ron?"

"Global Justice is tying to send Shego back to jail." He said. Wade fell from his chair.

"What," he said after getting back on his feet "It doesn't make any sense, Dr Director said..."

"She's been overruled," he interrupted him "she said even she has to answer to some kind of security council and that this council made the decision without her. And now they're after her too because she supported us."

"Damn..." Wade sighed, "You know Ron, I'm god with a computer but I don't know how I can help you with this."

"I need to be able to talk to Shego, she'll come in about an hour like she always does and we need to be able to talk without them listening otherwise we won't be able to do anything."

"Gotcha," Wade replied "I can do that if I hack inside their security systems but..."

"What?" Ron said

"Ron, do you even have a plan? Because this isn't like what we usually do. If we try to go against Global Justice then we're the bad guys." Wade continued, concern visible on his face.

"I know. I know." Ron sighed "But Shego is the one with the most experience in this and I need to be able to talk to her. And even if we can't find a solution we can still give her a headstart on Global Justice."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Wade said "You would be in a terrible position..."

"Kim would never allow that to happen to Shego and neither would I." Ron interrupted him again "We're supposed to be heroes not lapdogs. If we fold here, Team Possible won't mean anything anymore and I would never forgive myself for this. Besides, I won't lose anyone anymore."

Wade smiled "Don't worry Ron I'm with you on this, and you can count on me to have your back, no matter what."

"Thanks Wade," Ron smiled back "It's good to have you here."

Ron spent an hour thinking about how to help Shego but he couldn't see another solution besides running away. Which would put Shego back to square one.

The front door opened and Shego came in, "Hello there, I brought pizza, I thought I wasn't fair since you were the one cooking for me every time I swing by here. Sure it's not one of your homecooked meal but it's better than nothing..."

She stopped talking as soon as she saw his face.

"Ron, what happened?" She asked.

"I had a call from Dr Director a few hours ago." his voice was hollow "Global Justice is forcing her hand, they want to put you back to jail since Kim isn't here to monitor you anymore."

Shego looked at him in the eyes before sittingin front of him. "You know, it doesn't even surprise me that much. After all the only reason they agreed to this in the first place was because Princess put her neck on the block for me. Now that she isn't here anymore it really isn't that surprising."

"But it's not fair!" Ron shouted "you did everything right, you didn't cause any trouble, you even helped saving Dr Director from Electronique's plan..."

Shego smiled "Ron, with everything you saw recently can you still say that you think the world is fair? It's not. And in the real world, people like them put people like me in jail." She grabbed his hand. "Ron, what you did for me was something no one had ever done to me. You showed me people could be kind, nice and compassionnate just for the sake of it. But let's face it, to work out, this would have needed a miracle, and miracles don't come true in the real world. Maybe it's time for me to just stop dreaming."

Ron didn't know what to answer to that. "So, that's it? You're just going to leave? Like this never even happened? Go back to being a villain?"

She shook her head "I don't think I could go back to being a villain. First, my reputation is irremediably damaged by the time I spent on the right side of the law. And second, I don't think I even want to go back to villainy after everything with you and Kim."

"Then stay." Ron said, kepping hold of her hand "We will figure something out, you don't have to go back on the run like you were, you don't deserve it. Besides, I already lost Kim, I don't want to lose you too."

Shego had to fight tears, she had to be strong, he was just a high schooler, she had to make that decision, it couldn't be on him. Even though, if she had to be honest with herself she didn't want to lose him either. She wasn't sure she ever felt this way for someone. Deep down she knew that she would do anything, fight anyone for this cute freckled face. No matter the odds. "You could come with me." she said slowly.

"What?" Ron said in disbelief. "What did you..."

"I said you could come with me" Shego interrupted him "now that you helped me with my probation there is no way you're not on Global Justice's Radar too, even more since Kim isn't here to protect you anymore." She sighed "We don't have to be villains we could just leave, I have more money that I could ever spend and I know a few people who could help us to just... start over."

Ron stayed silent for a long while. He couldn't deny the appeal of what Shego was offering him. No more bullies, no more stupid parents, no more Barkin or pressure to be a hero when nobody even cared about him.

Except he couldn't. "I can't." he finally replied "I can't leave Kim right now. Not the way she is."

"Ron," Shego pleaded "You being here or elsewhere won't change anything for Kim. She'll wake up..."

"She'll wake up and I won't be there!" He interrupted her. "I won't bail on her. Especially now that needs me more than ever."

"Nothing will happen to her," Shego said "Did you even watch TV the last few days? She's America's sweetheart. Almost a martyr now that she came close to die while stopping a villain. You would have to be stupid to try something against her or anyone related to her." She sighed, she knew he wouldn't budge on this. He was too much of a good guy to leave his best friend since pre-K alone in this situation.

"I guess this is goodbye then." she finally said.

Ron's face lit up "That's it!"

Shego frowned "I didn't think you would enjoy me leaving so much."

"No, no, no!" Ron said "I found it, the way for you to stay, well you found it to be honest." Shego looked at him dumbfounded "What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's just as you said." Ron replied "Nobody can try anything against Kim's inner circle right now. The backlash would be way too big, so all we have to do is to offically make you part of it and Global Justice wouldn't even dare to touch you."

Shego smiled "Sure, of course that would work, but unless you're a damn magician I don't know how you can do that in a couple of days."

"We can do it in one day!" Ron shouted "We just need something big, something the media won't miss and then we just have to push you forward, in the spotlight. Right next to Kim's name."

"Kim's na..." Shego stopped talking as she understood what Ron meant. "Wait you mean..."

"That's right!" Ron said proudly "We just need to arrest one big villain, a big hit and then, as Kim's partner I can offically welcome you as an official member of Team Possible."


	32. Chapter 32 : Shego's decision

This was new to Ron. Usually when they were chasing a villain, they were the one reacting ; either Kim had received a hit on the site or Wade had picked up some movement from one of their numerous enemy. But now they were the on trying to find a villain to take down by themselves. They were the ones on the offence. And he liked that.

The only problem was that these villains were skilled at staying away from prying eyes, and the ones they could find easily wouldn't give them the coverage they needed for their plan to work.

It had been a day and a half since Betty's call and they still hadn't managed to find someone worth taking down. Drakken was behind bars, so was Dementor, Monkey Fist was gone somewhere they couldn't find and Motor Ed had just been taken down by Team Go. They were about to give up when Shego finally found something.

Something big enough for their plan but dangerous. Very dangerous. Gemini had started to move. Which meant Global Justice would move soon. They had to react quickly if they wanted to act without being caught in the crossfire.

However if Shego, as part of Team Possible managed to take down someone like Gemini, one of Global Justice's biggest problem, then no one would be able to ignore that.

"You fine with that?" Ron asked "Once you've done it there is no turning back, no villainous organisation will ever trust you again."

Shego shrugged her shoulders, "Bah, it's not like I care about it, I have no intention of coming back to villainy anyway. It's you who should be worried. Do you think you'll be ok without cupcake with you?" She teased.

Ron smiled back, "It'll be fine. I have this green skinned flaming bombshell with me to keep things from going too bad."

Shego's cheeks changed to a slightly darker shade of green at the compliment. Ron, still oblivious to the situation turned back to the computer screen, waiting for Wade to come back online with informations.

Shego stood there looking at his back before sitting next to her new partner. "Say, Ron." She started "If we miss our shot here I'll have to leave." Ron turned to face her. "Did you… think about what I told you last time?"

Ron stared at her for a long while before answering. "Shego, I'm not leaving Kim behind. Especially not when she's in this state." Shego's face dropped at those words, of course he wouldn't, princess would always come first no matter the situation. "And neither will I leave you, because we're going to catch Gemini, take down WWE and no one will be able to touch the newest member of Team Possible, not Global Justice, not anyone. I won't let that happen."

Shego smiled weakly. "Yeah, you're right. Let's focus on the mission." she said before turning away to look through her stuff for what could help them. She didn't want him to see her like this, fighting to keep the tears out of her eyes.

Of course he wouldn't choose her over Princess. She's Kim Possible and there was no way she could win against that. In fighting and in everything else. Kim was beautiful, even she had to admit that. She would even admit to herself that she found the young hero attractive. The young woman didn't lack curves, even though Shego was better in the chest department, and her feisty red hair and sparkling green eyes were enough to make anyone look at her. On top of that you had to add the world saving and the ever positive attitude the cheerleader never seemed to lose.

Yes, Shego would lie if she said she had never thought about it, especially with their fights which sometimes looked more like groping that actual fighting. In the end, even as an enemy she had ended up as another long distance admirer of the young hero. She was everything Shego could have been and chose not to be. And no matter how much Shego wanted to convince herself of the opposite, she never wanted Kim possible to lose. Not really.

She cheered for her when she fought other villains, she enjoyed their fights and admired how she handled the whole hero business. Beautiful, smart, loyal, a world famous hero, she was everyone's and Shego's ideal. That's probably why she had been so disappointed when their stratagem worked so well that night. Deep down she had wanted Kim to trust her partner and save the day once again. That's how much she thought of her.

And now, she was competing against her for the affections of the only guy she had liked in a long time. If not ever. That wasn't fair. She couldn't even bring herself to be jealous of Kim, she liked the girl too much for that. For the first time in her life, she didn't see a way to win. There was no way to win. Not against her.

She felt a slight tap on her shoulder and turned around. "Are you okay?" Ron asked "you blacked out for a moment."

She smiled, how could anyone not like that boy. Not a hottie but kind, caring, loving, brave and loyal to a fault. If only she had met him sooner, maybe things would have been different. For her, for a lot of people. She wouldn't stand in the way of his happiness. Even if that meant leaving him to Possible, she had no right to steal this from him. His happiness was worth everything to her. And she would do anything for him to get the happy ending he deserved.

"I'm fine." she said "Let's hear what your guy in the chair has to tell us and let's go."

"Ready whenever you are, Shego." Wade said as his face popped on the screen "I gotta say, it's good to have you on the team. Try to look after Ron out there."

"Hey," Ron Interrupted "I heard that, I can take care of myself."

Shego smiled at the friendly banter between these two "You don't need to tell me that, chair boy, I won't let anything happen to him, I promise."


	33. Chapter 33 : Let's be a Hero

**So, I know this chapter is a bit short and is only setup so in order to make you guys forgive me, the next one is probably going to be 2 to 3 times bigger than this one. And a lot of things are going to happen. See you guys next week.**

Ron and Shego dropped from the chopper less than a mile away from Gemini's secret headquarters.

"Ouch," Shego said "That's something I'll miss from being a villain, the rides were much more comfortable."

"Heh, tell me about it." Ron replied "That's the downside of not being paid for our work, no money to spend on comfy rides. I don't know how Kim handles it."

"It's fine," Shego said with a smile "the company makes up for it."

Ron laughed nervously at the compliment "heheheh, right. We should get moving."

Shego nodded "Let's go." She said as she headed toward Gemini's lair, Ron by her side.

After a while they arrived at the location of Gemini's Lair.

"There's nothing here." Ron stated "You think they moved already?"

"No" Shego replied "If they had been forced out, there would be traces of a fight and if they had left by themselves they would have kept the lair standing to be able to use it later."

"So, if they didn't leave or weren't forced out they should still be there." Ron said, "however that doesn't change the fact that there is nothing here."

 **beep** **beep bilip**

"Nothing on the surface, Ron." Wade interrupted, "But since Gemini share such close ties to Dr Director, I took the liberty of scanning the underground."

"Way to go Chair boy." Shego said.

"This is not going to be an official nickname right?" Wade asked hopefully.

"You bet." Shego replied with a smile.

"Dear me," Wade said "Anyway, this lair has two ways in. The first one is heavily defended by concealed lasers and a very elaborate security system. The second one is the Global Justice style entrance you guys are standing on."

"Then just open it and let's be done with it." Ron interrupted. "Let's do this."

"Gimme a minute, Ron." Wade replied "I need to make sure you end in the right place."

"What's the right place?" Shego asked.

"An empty laundry room." Wade answered "That should help you with the disguises and let you get in unnoticed. I've also uploaded a map of the place in your communicating devices"

"Fine with me" Ron said cheerfully "The less big guys we fight, the better it is."

"One more thing," Wade concluded "Once you're inside, it'll be much harder for me to contact you without them detecting me, let alone help you so we have to agree on something first."

Ron and Shego stared at the screen wondering what this was about.

"Since the point of this operation is for Shego to be noticed, we need it to be massively covered by the press." Wade stated "So the moment you guys manage to catch Gemini and WWE's top brass, simply press the alarm. Your kimmunicator'll automatically pick it up and tip the press about Team Possible's return. Then all that's be needed is to wait for them, should take them about an hour."

"Wade, you rock, you thought about everything." Ron cheered.

"Got it." Shego simply said. She didn't like going inside the enemy's lair without any safe way out but sometimes you gotta risk it all. "Let's go."

"1," Wade started counting "2,..."

"Wait!" Ron interrupted Wade under his and Shego's bewildered look.

"What?" Wade finally asked.

Ron smiled "Do we go at 3? Or 1, 2, 3 and there we go?"

Shego chuckled at the reference while Wade just groaned and pressed the button, sending them down the rabbit hole.

They fell down a long pipe, just like every time they were summoned by Global Justice, which made Ron wonder just which sibling exactly copied the other, and finally fell down inside the WWE lair.

In the middle of a kitchen with three Henchmen.

Shego groaned at the blunder. "Really, Chait boy? Really?"

"Wait," Ron said "This isn't the laundry room."

The henchmen lost a few precious seconds wondering how these intruders got in here.

Shego didn't let these go to waste. She leaped toward the closest enemy while throwing a bolt of plasma at another one. The first one, to startled to move went down in one kick, while the second didn't manage to dodge the plasma in time. Two down. The third one rushed toward a yellow switch on the wall.

Ron intercepted him as he lifted the glass protecting the switch and sent three kicks at him. One to the ribs, one to the solar plexus and one to the face. The last henchman fell down instantly.

"Damn that was close." Ron said. "Imagine if the press had come only to find a completely operational WWE base?"

Shego smirked "Could have been fun, but i'm not about to take the risk. Let's round these guys up, I don't want them running around when they wake up."

"Yes Maam," Ron said while saluting. Shego smirked at the gesture.

As the henchmen problem was solved, Shego turned toward Ron "You got better at this."

"Did you see that?" Ron said proudly as he threw a spinning kick, "The Ron Man stepped up his game since the last time." As he landed, his right foot landed in a slippery spot. Ron tripped and managed to grab something in order not to trip. "Woah, that was too close." Ron said before seeing the furious look on Shego's face. "Why was she that angry," he thought, "I only managed to keep standing by grabbing this switch..." The switch! Only at this moment he realized the alarm were already sounding.

"God dammit," Shego said.

"What happened?" Wade's face appeared on the screen "You guys shouldn't have sounded the alarm so early."

"It was an accident!" Ron shouted. "I slipped..."

"You slipped..." Wade said, "Ok, go back where you came from and i'll get the tube to suck you back out. I just have to..."

"No!" Ron shouted "We're not leaving."

"Ron," Wade tried "Your Kimmunicator already sent a message to the press, in an hour or so they'll be there and the only thing they'll see is a WWE base and nothing else."

"Only if we fail." Ron said seriously.

Shego smirked as she understood what he meant "I like the way you think."

"Can someone explain..." Wade started.

"What we're saying," Shego said "Is that if we take down this base and capture Gemini before the press arrives, none of this will matter."

Wade couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence for a few seconds "You would need to finish this in about an hour : capture Gemini, take down the henchmen and get me inside their system so that I can shut down their defences. That's impossible."

Ron smiled "We're Team Possible. We can do anything." He turned toward Shego. "So, ready to be a hero again?"

Shego smirked, "You couldn't make this easy, couldn't you?"

Ron smiled "Meh, the Ron Man likes a good challenge every now and then."

"this is madness..." Wade said weakly.

"Alright, let's do this." Shego said.


	34. Chapter 34 : New and Improved

**Hello : I know i said i'd see you next week but i got in a writing spree yesterday and wrote like three chapters so I thought I could give you a bonus one today :). Feel free to comment on this one since the story is taking a pretty sharp turn with it. Anyway : Enjoy it.**

"I'll take down as many henchmen as I can." Shego said "You go take care of their defence system. Then we regroup and handle Gemini."

"Since stealth is out of question now," Wade added, "I'll help you the best I can."

"Got it," Ron said as they split up "We'll meet up after that to take care of Gemini."

Shego had spent years in these kind of lairs, she knew how these things worked. As soon as the alarm had been sounded, most of the henchmen had to report to the command center for instructions, they would either weed the intruders out or, if the safety of the lair was compromised, they would evacuate. In the first case scenario they would be assigned different jobs in order to clean up the lair by the leader and they would once again be split up around the base.

Which meant she had to act now, before they were completely scattered around the lair. And with the map Chair Boy had given her and considering what she knew of Gemini she should be able to find them. "Here" she said.

She wasn't disappointed. Around a hundred henchmen were stationed here and a dozen of guys who seemed to be their superior were also around. If anything she appreciated the respect of the chain of command which existed in WWE. Nothing like at Drakken's.

"No need to look for the intruder guys. She's in front of you." Shego started. A few henchmen opened fire but her plasma made quick work of their bullets. "bullets, huh," Shego thought "Gemini isn't as much into the villain act as Drakken. I should remember that for later, I guess it was to be expected considering WWE's the closest thing to a real criminal organisation among all the supervillains."

She smirked and started to walk toward them. "Before we start." She said "Does anyone wanna get out?"

Ron kept running toward the place Wade indicated him. He had been running for a moment but hadn't seen any henchmen for now which meant Shego was keeping them busy for now. He turned a corner and came face to face with two of them. One of them was too startled to react, not the other. He took out his weapon and fired. As he fired, Ron had already tumbled around the corner and gotten himself out of harms way.

"Damn, this is gonna be though" he thought "I am going to need more than shurikens and grappling hooks for this."

He smirked, how did he even forget that? He focused, opened his hand and felt the familiar weight of a japanese blade appear in his hand.

"I don't need a sword for now" he thought as the blade changed shape to conform to his wishes. He now came back to face his opponents who immediately opened fire.

Safely hidden behind a solid shield, Ron ran forward and tackled his opponents. The first one was crushed between the wall and the shield and dropped to the ground, unconscious. The second one managed to dodge the charge and tried to get in position only for his head to meet a metal bo staff. He fell down and joined his friend.

"Well, that went well." Ron said before going forward. He dealt with two other groups as swiftly as he did with the first one until he finally arrived where he needed to be.

The power source of Gemini's lair was right next door and the only thing between it and Ron were the five henchmen standing guard in the room.

"Five of them now?" Ron thought to himself "This is gonna be though."

He opened his bag. He still had twelve shurikens, one grappling hook, two smoke bombs and a flash bang. Not to mention the lotus blade.

"Alright" he thought, "let's do this." He jumped in the room, throwing shurikens at the guards. However, they were ready for an attack and they all managed to dodge the surprise strike except for one whose hand was hit by a throwing star, the injury making him drop his weapon. Ron tumbled away and hid from the gunfire. As the henchmen moved, Ron kept counting, eight shurikens left.

As the guards deployed, Ron made his move. As smoke started to fill the room his opponents stopped for a brief moment. Ron took advantage of that opening and fired his grappling hook toward the injured henchman who couldn't dodge it in time. A good yank on the rope was enough to make him lose his balance, distracting his comrades while Ron jumped toward them, hidden by the smoke, using the lotus blade as a staff he managed to knock down the injured henchman as well as the one next to him before running away from the other guards.

"Two down, three left." he thought as he grabbed another handful of shurikens. The henchmen scattered to avoid the throwing stars only for one of them to be met by a jump-kick in the face from Ron. The guard dropped unconscious while Ron started to make his escape before feeling a sharp pain to his side. He managed to get away safely and took a look at the source of the pain. One of the bullet had probably grazed him. His side was bleeding but he hadn't been shot.

He threw another smoke bomb and dashed toward last two henchmen as he decided to finish this. He feinted left and headed right toward the tallest of the two. He slid between his legs and struck at one of his knee with all his strength. With a resounding crack, the henchman fell to the ground painfully. Ron turned toward the last one and went straight for him only to be stopped in his tracks.

The first thing Ron registered was the sound of the detonation. He didn't know why but this one was different from all the gun sounds he heard today. Then came the pain. Excruciating pain coming from his left side, making him fall to the ground, he took a look only to see blood covering his shirt.

One of the henchman that had been knocked down was waking toward him, gun in hand.

Rufus, who had stayed in his pocket for the duration of the fight let out a high pitched scream as he saw blood covering his best friend's body. He then let out an angry sound and jumped toward the henchmen. The ferocity of the assault surprised them and he managed to bite one of the henchman's ear and cut the other's skin above his eye before being caught.

"Damn rodent. " he said as threw the naked mole rat straight to a wall. Rufus hit the ground, unconscious. "First time you got shot kid?" The henchman asked before kicking the wound making Ron cry in pain. "The first time is always painful." He grabbed his gun and pointed it at Ron's head. "Hey, you going to kill him?" the other henchman asked "Look at him, he's just a kid."

"You see what he did?" the first one replied "He and his little girlfriend took almost of us out the last time they came, now they come back and try to take us down for good. If you wanna be a hero, you gotta accept the risks that come with the job."

"I know," the other one said "but he's down, we can just take him to Gemini and..."

"This is WEE!" The first one shouted "If you wanna play nice just get out and go work for this Drakken guy or the German lunatic. Here we're not playing around. You attack us, you better be ready to die." The other henchman nodded.

"Any last words kid?" he asked.

"Last words? Why last words?" Ron thought, before it hit him "I'm gonna die. I don't wanna die." He never realised how what Kim and he did was dangerous. The bad guy, the death rays, the traps, everything. And yet he always pulled through. For a long time he wasn't even half as good as he is today and yet it's today he was going to die despite being so much better at this that he was before. It didn't make any sense.

Except it did. Because today Kim wasn't here. Usually she was the one in the spotlight, she was the one bearing most of the risks. Him being in the shadows was denying him the recognition he deserved but it was also protecting him. When he went to fight Drakken and Shego to stop the Little Diablos plot they kept underestimating him every step of the way and that's how he managed to pull through and win. Today was the first time the enemy had come at him seriously when he was alone. That was what Kim had faced all these years. All while protecting him every step of the way. And he had blamed her for it. Stupid, so stupid. Years of loyalty and friendship he had thrown away because his feelings had been hurt. Because the girl he loved had chosen a food chain hottie over him. Selfish, so selfish. She had to bear everything alone, the danger, the pressure, everything. What a great friend he had been, not even realising how his partner was feeling. Not even forgiving her for her flaws. Expecting her to be the perfect Kim Possible everyone saw in her when she was just KP. The same KP she had always been.

And now he was going to lose her. And he was going to lose Shego who had worked so hard for her shot at redemption. Despite everything Global Justice had done or said, despite her past with her family, despite the fact that it was the hard way, she had chosen to do it. Because he said he was going to help her. And he couldn't even do that. He was going to let her down, like he always did. Always the screw up, always causing problem for others.

Beautiful, caring and strong, both of them. He had let them down, both of them.

He was going to die, alone, without being able to help Shego or forgive Kim.

"That's what you want?" he heard "To die like the loser they say you are? To keep failing? Or do you want to be strong? Strong enough to win, strong enough to do what you have to do? Strong enough to deserve them?"

Ron opened his eyes. He wasn't in WEE's lair anymore. He was inside their usual Bueno Nacho booth, in Middleton. Where the hell was he? He looked outside and saw the Middleton streets completely empty. He then remembered one of the talks he had had with Master Sensei at Yamanouchi. His soul realm, it must be his soul realm, that's why it was built after a place where he was free of worries. Sensei had talked about how the second stage of meditation could allow you to access your soul realm, which wasn't making any sense since he wasn't meditating when he got there.

"Wondering how you got there?" A voice said, "that would be me." He quickly turned around toward the origin of the voice. He wasn't alone. Either he was looking in a mirror or there was another him in front of him.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Of course you'd ask that." The other him replied "You've always been slow. I mean it's not as if we've never met, I've also met everyone even though the last time I did it ended badly for *KP*." he quoted.

"Zorpox," Ron shouted "You think I'll..."

"You'll listen to me." Zorpox interrupted him "I didn't want to do that to her either, This thing affected me as much as it affected you. You think I'm different from you? That I'm some sort of thing that has been put in your head against your will? Always childish. I'm not an intruder, I'm you. I'm everything you always pushed away, everything you denied, everything you wanted to do but never had the guts to do, I'm the real you."

"No you're not." Ron answered "You're evil. You hurt Kim, you tried to take over the world. Don't try to make me believe I wanted this."

The other Ron laughed "I tried to take over the world's supply of nacos, hardly the same. And don't try to tell me this desire doesn't come from you as well. As for Kimberly Ann Possible, well, don't tell me at that moment you never wanted to hurt her."

"That's wrong!" Ron shouted

"Really?" The other Ron smiled "Even after she robbed you of the recognition you deserved for so many years? After she dumped you for some hottie she barely knew? After realising she never even looked at you as a man? As someone she could date? Stop trying to lie to yourself, Ron, I am you. Your most intimate thoughts, your deepest desires, I know them all, don't try to hide them from me."

"I didn't want to hurt her." Ron said weakly.

"Because you're too spineless to do what you have to do." The other Ron replied "Too scared to act on what you want. Too weak to even beat five goons. How do you even want the two women around you to even look at you. They deserve someone better, someone stronger. So now, step aside, failure."

The ground started shaking, faint monkey screams could be heard in the background "Shut up!" Ron said as a faint blue glow appeared as he threw a punch at Zorpox who easily caught it as he was also glowing blue.

"As I told you," he said "I am you, so don't think you can beat me with that." He threw a punch straight at Ron's gut who was sent flying and landed on the ground, unconscious. "Time for a switch." he said as he left the restaurant who vanished as soon as he walked through the door.

"No answer?" The henchman said "Goodbye then, Kid."

Then the teen started glowing. A deep blue glow surround him as the henchmen stopped.

"What the hell is that?" The other goon asked as the first one paused for a split second before pulling the trigger. Tried to pull. Couldn't pull. In a second the kid was up and had grabbed the gun and tossed it away.

"What the..." The other goon started before being interrupted by a punch in the guts that sent sent him flying across the room.

"Hmmm," th other Ron said as he flexed his arm "That feels nice."

"You brat..." the goon started as he dashed toward the gun before being grabbed by the teen. "You..." Ron started "You're the one who shot me right?"

"I..." The goon was trembling as he replied.

"Don't worry." the hero said with a smile as he let go of the henchman, showing him his now healed wound "It's fine. Thank you for this, really."

"You..." he answered "thank me?" the other Ron nodded "Now goodbye." he said as he punched him in the face. The goon fell down, unconscious, as Ron picked up the lotus blade and turned to face the power source.

"Now, let's do this." he said as the blue glow was transferred to the lotus blade. In a single swing, the engine was sliced in half. "I believe mission accomplished." He said smiling before the blue glow faded. "Damn, come back, you damn monkey mojo." he said angrily, however the power stayed asleep. "Oh, well," he started as he picked up Rufus and put him back in his pocket before walking away "I'll handle that later, time to see how my partner is doing."

The fight in the command center was almost over. Almost all the henchmen were down and the remaining others were too scared to even get close to the former villain. Shego was exhausted but she kept going. This was her specialty, she knew it, not even Kim was better than her at cleaning up small fries. Shego always knew her fighting style and Kim's were different, Kim was stealthier, more flexible, quicker and better at improvising, her fighting style was based around quick strikes which allowed her to find an opportunity to deliver a decisive blow. Shego was stronger, more prepared, and more ruthless, he fighting style reflected that : while Kim was all about find an opening for a decisive blow, every single blow for Shego could be the decisive one. Kim maybe was the better one on one fighter but Shego was better at facing large groups of enemies. Kim was a dagger and Shego was a sledgehammer. Both weapons, different purposes.

As the last goons fell from a plasma powered blow she saw Ron entering the command center.

"The job is done here." Shego said "What about you?"

"The defence system is done for." the teen replied "Only Gemini left. You know where we can find him?"

"You'll never catch me, you maggots!" Gemini shouted "Emergency exit : activation!" However, whatever should have happened didn't happen and Gemini was still here. "What? How come..."

The kimmunicator beeped "I'm sooooorry," Wade said. "but since your defence system is out I decided it would be better if I took control of your emergency escape system, which means you're not going anywhere."

"Way to go Chair boy!" Shego cheered, "Now let's wrap things up!" she said as she dashed toward Gemini.

"I'm not finished," he said as Shego ran toward him "I still have a last move left."

Ron took a fighting stance and Shego kept going as Gemini fell to the ground "I surrender, please don't hurt me!" he said.

Both heroes stopped. "That's it?" Shego asked "What was that thing about a last move?"

"This is my last move," Gemini said "When you're a villain you have to admit when you lost to cut your losses."

"That's it?" the other Ron said "You think this is enough? People were hurt and you think you can walk away unharmed because you surrendered? How about I give you a taste of..."

"Ron!" Shego shouted as she grabbed his arm, "We can't do this, what is wrong with you?"

Hestopped. "Sorry." he said "Let's get something to tie these guys up so that they can't escape." Shego nodded and a few minutes later Gemini and the commanding officers they had managed to catch were tied up next to them.

"How long until the press arrives?" He asked.

"A few minutes." Wade replied "You guys should get ready to..."

"Miss Sheila Go!" someone shouted "This is Global Justice, you've violated the deal you've made with us by leaving Middleton without proper authorisation. Surrender and this'll be over very quickly, otherwise we'll have to catch you by force."

"Oh come on..." Shego said. "We just caught you a dozen of wanted criminals, including Gemini, how about you stop being stupid for a moment?"

"I'll take that as a negative answer." The agent said before turning around. "Agent Lane, Miss Sheila Go is here, probably with Ronald Stoppable, we're awaiting orders."

"Send three teams, I want them in custody as soon as possible." Agent lane replied.

"Are you serious?" Dr Director said. "You didn't even try to talk this out with them and now you are going to send the big guns? They just did us a favour by arresting Gemini."

"Listen to me!" Agent Lane replied "I don't know what you did but I know that the council appointed me to arrest Shego as soon as she broke the deal you stupidly made. Which she did, now since this is probably your last day as Director of Global Justice, stay on the sidelines and watch me."

Betty grabbed his arm "First, agent Lane, you don't get to talk to me like that. Second, even if this was my last day as Director it would mean that today I am still in charge. And I'm ordering everybody here to stand down immediately."

"You don't get to talk, Woman, I'm the one..." Agent Lane started before being sent flying away and crashing down in front of the assault teams, he didn't stand up. "I told you to stand down, Sir, now is there anyone here who wishes to add anything?" Nobody raised his voice. "Good, now carry Agent Lane, the press is coming and I don't want anyone caught here, am I being clear?"

"Yes Dr Director," they shouted before moving. Two minutes later, they had vanished.

"I won't lie." the teen said "That was badass."

"True." Shego replied with a smile "Now let's freshen up, we don't want to look too dirty for our big show."

A few minutes later, both Ron and Shego were answering questions after their spectacular arrest. The message was clear : they were back and here to stay and Shego was a part of Team possible.

"Does this mean Kim Possible has been kick out from her own team?" A journalist asked.

"No!" Shego said sharply, "Kim is Kim and nobody is able to replace her. She is what we all aspire to be and I'll consider myself lucky if I can at least replace her properly."

"Do you have any idea how things will turn out if she comes back?" the man pushed.

"WHEN," Shego said "She comes back, I think we'll all make an even better team if the three of us work together. However if she wants me gone, which I could understand, I'll go."

"Thank you for your time." the journalist said "Do you have anything else to add? About why you decided to restart Team Possible even without Kim Possible."

"Kim." the other Ron started "created something that went beyond her, something that helped a lot of people and she surely wouldn't agree to this disappearing with her. That's why we decided to keep going and relieve her from some of the pressure. So we're telling you this : Team Possible is back, new and improved."

The journalists smiled and the heroes headed for their ride. "New and Improved?" Shego teased "you're creating ads now?"

"What can I say" his partner replied with a smile "You inspire me." Shego couldn't contain the slight blush in her cheeks at these words, "Now let's head home." As Shego fell asleep during the ride, the other Ron stayed awake, looking through the window. New and Improved. If only they knew how true this statement was.


	35. Chapter 35 : Rodent Rebellion

**Hello everyone. In order for everything to be clear about who is who during the dialogues the "new Ron" will be called Ronald. However, the other characters (Shego, Wade, etc) will keep calling him Ron since they have no reason to think he changed. it's mainly to simplify the interactions between the two Rons. With that out of the way : enjoy the new chapter.**

It had been two weeks since the stunt Shego and Ronald had pulled when they faced WEE and things were finally looking good for Team Possible. First of all, they had to go through a fair number of interviews that had been scheduled by Wade in which they had sent three messages.

First : Shego was part of the team and she was here to stay for as long as she stayed straight. This had always been part of the "rehabilitation program" he and Kim had started months ago after the Diablo incident, they had even labelled this as Shego's "community service under surveillance". Kim's name had been really useful in that regard.

Second : Nothing had changed considering how the team was working. They were still not making any profit from their hero work and anyone could ask for their help by using their website.

And last : The fact that Kim was out due to her condition didn't change anything. This was still her team and as soon as she got better she would be back in charge.

Due to their intense schedule, they had however been forced to keep their missions around Middleton for the time being.

Dr Director had also managed to solidify her position within Global Justice. She was still in conflict with the higher ups due to the fact they suspected she had warned Ron about their action, however the success of Shego's rehabilitation had silenced all the critics. She had also managed to send agent Lane away and get Will Du back as her number two.

She had helped them to erase Shego's record, however due to how famous the young woman had become in such a short amount of time it didn't make a big difference for now.

Shego had since been able to look for a job around Middleton and from what she said Ron, she had a few prospects.

Ronald also went back to school where he was able to catch up with Felix, Monique and everyone else.

He also kept shining as Middleton High's running back. The young man was already almost impossible to catch before but now he was even able to fool more experienced players and was finally recognised by every team as someone to be feared, breaking a few school records in the process.

Ronald was however facing a problem. The naked mole rat seemed less affectionate than usual with him and sometimes even flat out ignored him which was starting to become a problem. He had tried everything from talking to offering him cheese but the rodent just didn't seem to trust him. As evening came he understood he wouldn't succeed today, the young man then started to meditate to calm himself down and tried to access his mystical monkey power again.

He calmed his breath, closed his eyes and started to meditate. As the sounds around him died down, the teen opened his eyes and recognised a familiar place. He as back at the Bueno Nacho booth. He smiled and turned around to be met with his own face.

"Hello again, failure." He started "I hope you're enjoying yourself here since you'll have stay for the rest of our life."

Ron's anger was clearly visible on his face "You think you can pretend to be me? Maybe you know everything about my life but you're not me! At some point people will see it and you won't be able to hide anymore."

"You see," Ronald replied with a smile, "That's the difference between the two of us. I don't want to be you. I am a better version of you. In every way. That's why there is absolutely no reason for me to try to imitate you. I'll only have to continue what you started. What was your decision already? To become stronger for everyone? I'll also get stronger only I'll get stronger for myself."

"That's why you won't win." Ron countered, "You only care about yourself."

"I don't." Ronald said calmly "I'm just not as naive as you are, and I sure as hell won't be a pushover as you were." he paused "You think people care about the morals and principles you and your friend keep upholding? Some people deserve help, others deserve to be punished and some people just deserve to die, that's all. And I'm going to make sure everyone gets what he deserves."

"Oh YOU are going to do that?" Ron said "And why would it be you who gets to decide who deserves what? You're not special, you're just like everybody else. What would give you the right to decide that?"

Ronald laughed, "Just because you're not special doesn't mean I am the same as you. As for how I'll do this. Well… people follow strength so I'll just have to make them accept my way." He said as he felt Mystical Monkey power flowing through his body. His body glowed with a deep blue aura, as deep as the sea.

"They won't let you. And I won't let you." Ron said as he started glowing too while taking his fighting stance. His glow was of a much clearer blue, clear as the sky. "I'll beat you, get my life back and make sure you never come back again."

Both Rons faced each other. The Bueno Nacho started to vanish and suddenly they were at the Yamanouchi training fields.

"How fitting." Ronald said "Remember how many times you got beaten here?"

"It'll be different this time." Ron seriously replied.

"Says every failure ever" Ronald finished as he started dashing toward his opponent.

Ron imitated him and the fight started. The last time, Ron had been caught of guard by everything, starting from the very existence of this other him. Now he wasn't going to let this man take everything away from him. Now, the more the fight progressed, the more he realized they were evenly matched. After a few minutes, Ron stepped back and smiled. "I get it." He started, Ronald stopped moving and listened, interested in what the teen hero had to say. "Last time, you got lucky I didn't know what was happening and you took advantage of it, but since as you say it you're me then you only know what I know and have the same strength I have." He paused. "In other words we're equal."

Ronald smiled "You're only half correct." he said "Sure, we have the same strength, the same knowledge and the same experience. However, I am still better than you. You are held back by so many things which don't matter to me, you're naïve and childish, way too idealistic to understand how things really work. This way of thinking is nothing but a chemical defect found in the losing side."

Ron sighed "Stop quoting TV shows and let's fight." He went straight for Ronald and the fight resumed.

The fight lasted for five more minutes before both realised keeping this up wouldn't change anything. The stalemate wasn't going to collapse so easily, their techniques and power were equal, the only thing that could differentiate them was their mental strength and both weren't going to yield easily.

The fight was so intense that none of them saw the tiny blue flash that carried a tiny rodent inside Ron's soul realm. Rufus could only watch, powerless, his best friend struggling against himself. Slowly, Ron was gaining the upper hand, his furious strikes were starting to push Ronald back.

"I have a single question." Ronald started as he lost ground "Suppose you get lucky and manage to defeat me, what are you going to do?" Ron kept going at him, why was he talking now? "Are you going to keep going the same way? Being the hero nobody ever recognise, always letting everyone trample over him?"

"That's not it and you know it." Ron replied before striking back even harder.

"I think it is," Ronald continued "You want to know why I called you a failure? It's not an insult, if I wanted to insult you I would have called you a loser like everybody did at your school." Ronald kept parrying Ron's strikes but had no opportunity to attack. "No, I called you a failure because that's what your life is. A complete and utter failure."

"Shut up!" Ron shouted as he kept fighting, "You think you're better than me but you're nothing more than an egoistical piece of trash, you don't care about anyone, you don't love anything, the only thing that matters to you is your own objective."

"That's why you fail." Ronald replied, half laughing, "You're way too naive, you don't want to understand how the world works : everybody only cares about himself : that's why Shego decided she didn't want to be a villain anymore, that's why our parents always leave to do gods know what, that's the only reason why Yamanouchi school ever paid attention to you." He paused "And that's why Kim chose to stay at the prom with Eric instead of leaving with you."

Ron's face turned white from anger at Ronald's words and he attacked even harder, hitting his ribs in the process. "You think your way is better than mine?" Ronald laughed "Let's do a quick recap of what you achieved : The friend you loved chose a synthodrone over you, your parents never even paid attention to you, you barely have any friends, you don't even realise it when girls have feelings for you." He smiled "You'll never have Kim. She'll never love you, she'll never acknowledge you and she'll never respect you. And you'll never have Shego because you're too stupid to even realise what she feels for you."

"You're wrong." Ron said, his voice and his strength weakening, "you're lying."

"You wanna know what's the difference between us?" Ronald asked, hitting harder with every words, forcing Ron to cover his vitals with his limbs "I'll have Kim because she'll respect me, I'll have Shego because she'll admire me, I'll get every girl I want because I'm the kind of man they want. People like me, they cheer for me because they admire me and respect me. And finally, I'll be a better hero than you've ever been, I'll master Mystical Monkey Power and defeat more villains than what you could dream of."

Ron didn't reply, tears were streaming down his face behind his arms as these words were more painful than all the hit he ever received. Finally a well placed hit blew up his guard and Ronald finished the fight with an uppercut that sent the teen hero to the ground.

Rufus felt the tears in his eyes as he saw the crumpled form of his friend on the ground, he quickly left the soul realm before anyone could.

His other him towered over him and whispered in his ear as he fell unconscious. "I won't kill you. I can't since you're a part of me, you're all my weaknesses, everything I don't want to be and despise, you're the reminder of my failures. Now you'll stay here. Forever."

He walked away as the body on the floor vanished from his sight back inside the Bueno Nacho who now had a locked door and bars to the windows. He smiled and started meditating.

A moment later, Ronald opened his eyes, he could feel the power coursing through his veins for a moment before it disappeared. He smiled. He had managed to access it willingly outside of his soul realm, now it was only a matter of time before he could master it.

He heard a sound by the window and looked around only to find Rufus by the open window. The look of the naked mole rat was something he had never seen. The hatred was so clearly painted on the rodent's face he instantly realised what that meant. This damned rodent knew. He ran toward the window but couldn't get here before the naked mole rat managed to jump.

What the hell was he doing. He was just a rodent, he was going to die if he jumped from this height. Suddenly, a light blue glow surrounded the tiny rodent who landed safely on the ground before the glow faded. He turned around one last time and disappeared in the darkness.

Ronald felt disgusted. He finally managed to be the one in charge of this body and now everything was compromised because his little friend wouldn't accept this situation.

He sighed, Rufus was skilled at hiding, he wouldn't find before…

Before what exactly. Rufus was a smart mystically powered rodent but he was still a rodent. He could speak but people understanding him was something else. In fact they were only two people in the world who could. The first one being himself and the second one was in a hospital bed, in a comatose state.

In other words they were no way for him to communicate what he knew to anyone. Ronald's secret was safe for now. He would deal with Rufus later. The best way to handle this stitch was to show the naked mole rat that he was just as much his owner than the other part of him was. If after every other option had been exhausted, Rufus wouldn't see the truth then he would have no choice but to resort to other means. The very idea disgusted him, he may be a different part of Ron Stoppable but he still had the memory of his counterpart. All the times Rufus had been there for him were in his mind, but his secret came before everything. He wouldn't enjoy dealing with the rodent but he would do it.

For now he had other plans. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.


	36. Chapter 36 : Feels good to be Me

Ronald woke up the moment his alarm went off. In a few minutes he was up and ready to hit the shower, then he could get dressed, switching his usual red jersey for a black jacket and a tighter shirt highlighting his newly-formed muscles he had gained from football, grab some breakfast, brush his teeth and be on his way to school.

At school, Ronald's publicity stunt about Team possible had caused his popularity to skyrocket even further. He couldn't walk in the halls without a flock of admirer cheering for him. He made sure to tell them to give him some room but he still enjoyed the feeling of being the one people looked up to.

He got into the classroom as first period started and sat at his usual spot, next to Kim's empty chair. As the classroom started to fill, one of his classmates walked up to him.

"Hey Ron, I'm Dave "Just wanted to tell you you were awesome on TV. I'll be cheering you and Team Possible on."

"Thanks man," Ronald replied "We don't do it for the fame but it's still nice to hear."

"Just asking." Dave continued "My little sis is like, your biggest fan, she wouldn't stop talking about how cool you were yesterday and how awesome what you did was, so when she heard that I'm in class with you she kept pestering me about it." He pulled out a piece of paper, "Do you think you could give her your autograph? She would really love to have it."

Ronald chuckled. "Of course," he picked up a pen and signed the paper "Say hello to your sister from me."

"Awesome," Dave replied before whispering in his ear "Also, do you think you could get that green chick's signature for me?" he pulled out a picture of Shego from a newspaper, "It would be awesome too."

Ronald smiled "I'll give it to her but I don't think she does autographs."

"Thanks man, you're the best" Dave said before sitting right next to Ronald.

Ronald froze. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked.

"What ?" Dave replied "Can't two pals just sit together in class? It's not as if anyone is sitting here..."

"It's not your seat," Ronald growled "Get out of here right now."

"Dude, you gotta chill out..." Dave protested

Mr Barkin got inside the classroom. "Alright, listen up" he started "Since your english teacher was victim of an accident and busted his leg I'll be filling in until the school hire a replacement."

Ronald didn't want to start any problem so he just let it go for the rest of first period, just who the hell did this guy think he was, walking in and taking her spot like that? As the bell rang signalling the end of first period everybody rushed outside of class, eager to escape Barkin. As they walked in the hallways Ronald grabbed the guy by his collar and slammed him in the lockers.

"Don't. Ever. Do that. Again. Do you understand?" He growled "If you seat in her spot again I'll beat the crap out of you, did you get me?"

Dave laughed nervously "Hahahahah, you're kidding, right? It's a joke?"

Ronald pointed at his face "Note. Serious. Face."

Dave started to panic, "It's ok, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, please don't..."

Ronald let go of him and smiled "Great. Then we're good."

"Stoppable!" Barkin roared "What's this all about? No fighting in the hallways."

Ronald grabbed Dave's shoulder "Fighting? Me and Dave? Nah, we're just kidding around. Right Dave?"

"Yyyeah..." Dave said, forcing a smile "It's ok Mr Barkin, nothing to report here."

"Hmmm," Barkin sighed "try to keep it down in the hallways."

"Sure Mr B." Ronald replied cheerfully before walking away.

"Did you see that?" Tara said poking at Bonnie's shoulder as they got out of the lady's rooms, a dreamy look in her eyes "The way he got angry."

"That was so hot." Bonnie mumbled, the sight of an angry Ron defending his friend making her weak in the knees "That's a man right here."

"Bonnie!" Tara said, shocked "You spent a big part of our highschool year putting him down, now do you hear yourself?"

"What can I say, Tara." Bonnie replied "Any woman would feel something at such a sight. You can't deny he changed a lot since last year."

Tara nodded. She couldn't deny the change in the blond teen, she couldn't see him the same way she used to see him before. After he saved them at camp Wannaweep, she had crushed on him hard. She used to want them to hold hands, go on dates and for him to ask her to the dance, now she couldn't deny the thoughts she had when she looked at him now were much more impure than they used to be.

As if she read his mind Bonnie kept talking. "I must say, I wouldn't say no to him cornering me, alone, under the bleachers in my cheerleading outfit."

Tara didn't even answer to that, she only looked at her friend, agape, pondering the implications of what she said.

"What?" Bonnie said "If I'm thinking it then at least half of the cheer squad is having the same thoughts, mark my words." Bonnie stared at her friend and smirked "You included I'd say."

Tara stared at her friend, red as a tomato. Bonnie kept smirking, "it's written all over your face." she said before starting to walk away. "Come, or else we'll be late."

"I can't" Tara said meekly.

"What ?" Bonnie stopped "Why? You know he'll be in class with us right? No need to..."

"It's not that," Tara said, blushing even harder and getting closer to her friend in order to whisper to her ear "I need to go to the bathroom."

"But we just..." Bonnie started "Oh. OH. Ok, go I'll cover for you." she finally said a smirk back on her face.

She walked to the classroom and told Mr Barkin about Tara, before taking a seat next to the man of the hour, making sure to avoid Kim's usual spot.

"You really should have toned down the manliness back there." she whispered playfully "Poor Tara could only take so much."

"Oh," Ronald whispered back with a smirk "Did she get her pan in a twist looking at such a display?" As Bonnie kept silent the teen laughed silently "Oh my god, she did" he continued "I'm sorry about it, I promise not to give her more than she can handle from now on."

Bonnie kicked him playfully "Don't mock her," she replied "Any girl would have been in the same situation after seeing this. After all, a girl can only take so much before having to take a trip to the changing rooms."

"Even you," Ronald whispered with a smirk "You surprise me."

"Even me." Bonnie confirmed sultrily "That's if I wore any in the fist place of course." She said with a wink. "It gets in the way of enjoying a nice ride."

Ronald smiled at their conversation. "I could give you a ride if you need one. Tonight after practice."

Bonnie smirked, "You better show me a good one."

Tara finally came back to the classroom, giving a death glare to Bonnie when she saw where her best friend was sitting. Bonnie simply shrugged her shoulders "All I fair in love and war." she thought with a smile.

As the day ended, Ron left the field after a successful practice. Not that he really needed the muscle training. He had been chasing and running away from bad guys for years, his speed and stamina were already unparalleled at the highschool level, most of the practice was only for him to deepen his understanding of the game.

As he left the school he headed to the parking lot only to be met with Bonnie. Still wearing her cheerleading skirt. "I hope you don't mind," she said playfully, her hand lightly caressing his arm as she talked "I had an issue with my pants, I thought it would be better for me to keep this on."

Ronald smirked at the display. "No, not at all." he replied putting his hand on her side, escorting her to his bike "Here it is, sit down and enjoy the ride."

Bonnie smiled "Oh, I fully intend to. Don't worry about me. But I thought our star player would have traded up from this rusty thing."

Ronald smiled "Don't worry." he said "There is more to this baby than meets the eye. The only question is : Can you handle it?"

Bonnie smirked "I can handle anything you throw at me."

"Good, now all that's left is to climb on and enjoy the ride" Ronald said "And if you're scared you just have to hold on to me."

"Oh but I intend to hold on and enjoy the ride..." She thought as she climbed on the bike.

Ronald had fought so many freaks that used technology recently that he had kept some of the parts for himself and used them to repair his old piece of junk. All it needed now was a good paint job and it would be good as new, Felix had assured him.

The engine started and the unlikely left the school. For the entire duration of the ride, Ronald could feel Bonnie's soft chest pressed against his back. A warm sensation that was spreading to his whole body. Bonnie was giving him directions toward her house, whispering, breathing hot air in his ear. As the ride went on she pressed herself harder against him, the hold of her hands drifting lower and lower from his chest to his belly, getting closer and closer to his nether region.

As the ride came to an end, both were flushed, their breathing was ragged and their cheeks were bright red.

"Thanks for the ride." Bonnie started

"It was a pleasure." Ronald replied with a smile.

"Do you want to come inside?" Bonnie asked as innocently as she could in her attire "for a drink?"

"I..." Ronald started before being interrupted by his communicating device ringing.

Ronald groaned before picking up. "What's up Wade?"

"Got a hit on the website." he said "Get ready to move out."

"Right now?" Ronald said, disappointment evident in his voice.

"Yes, right now" Wade replied "Go get ready, I'll get you and Shego a ride."

As Wade faded from the screen. Ronald turned back to face Bonnie. "Sorry, can't tonight. Duty calls." Bonnie's face fell to the ground, damn villains couldn't even take the evening off.

"But maybe I can come next time for… coffee?" Ronald asked as innocently as he could.

"Yeah," Bonnie whispered "Coffee sounds good."

Ronald climbed back on his motorcycle, "Gotta go," He said "The world won't save itself."

"Stay safe." Bonnie said with a smile. "Go kick their butt."

"Will do." Ronald said as he drove off.

The cold air helped him cool off after what just happened. He parked his ride in front of his house and climbed in his room. He picked up a few things he might need. Throwing stars, a grappling hook, a few ninja tools he could use and put it in his backpack. After changing in his mission gear, he sat on his bed and started to meditate to try and access the mystical monkey power again.

After a few minutes, the anger started to rise. The power was so elusive, every time he felt he had a hold on it it seemed to vanish somewhere else, out of his reach. So frustrating.

"You will never master it like that." A voice said. A familiar voice.

"Ha," Ronald replied "I wondered how long it would take for you to come around, old man."

"I am a man, and I'm indeed old. But why do I feel that your words are meant to hurt me?" Sensei replied.

"Why do you think?" Ronald asked "Maybe because you tried to use me, to get me to conform to your useless ideal as your mystical monkey master, because you think you can summon me whenever you want and that I'll do your bidding? Do I have to keep going?"

"You are angry," the old sensei said "But you are wrong on something, we never used you. We were always completely open about why we needed your help and what was required of you. Of course we knew your heroic heart would push you to take the right decision and help us but we never forced you to do anything."

"What a load of crap." Ronald replied "How about when you gave me no choice to come to your school? When I had to live in a room that could have been a closet? When I had to fight to even be able to eat? You have never put a sword on my neck to pressure me into doing what you wanted but you sure as hell didn't leave me a lot of choices."

"This was to help you become who you are meant to be. But if Yamanouchi offended you, I offer you my apologies. It was never our intention to make you feel that way." The old man said with a bow.

"You think I'm as naive as I used to?" Ronald snarled "I won't fall back into your manipulations, I won't let anyone control me. Don't think I'm the same as the failure than came to your dojo."

"No you're not." The old man said "You're his contained anger, his suppressed ego, his hidden desires and every single instinct he pushed aside in order for him to be the one world pressured him to be."

"I'm Ron Stoppable." Ronald shouted "And i'll be better than he ever could have dreamed of."

"I'm afraid that is impossible." The old man replied.

"Say again?" Ronald said angrily.

"You're not better than him." The old man said, "You're a part of him. The same way he's a part of you. You're his desires, he's your morals. You're his instinct, he's your duties. You're his anger, he's your forgiveness. You're his ego, he's your selflessness. You are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. "

"Oh, he will still exist." Ronald said with a smile. "Deep down inside me where he'll never be able to come back. Beaten, bent, broken. he'll never stand up to me ever again."

"He will," Sensei said "And you will need him, the same way he needed you in his darkest time."

"I'm not as weak as he is." Ronald said.

The old man chuckled. "No you're not. You're definitely stronger than him. You're even right about him." Ronald looked at him, was the old man agreeing with him? "He's a failure. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Failure is a necessary part of our life, failure is forever the greatest teacher we can have." The old man exhaled "You will need him, believe me."

"Keep dreaming, old man." Ronald snarled.

"The settlers make sure the world keep spinning but the dreamers are the ones who change it." Sensei said as he started walking.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ronald asked.

"Going to see the other you of course." The old man replied.

"No you won't." Ronald said as he jumped toward the old man only to be met by a shining blue sphere, preventing him from getting close.

"Let me through, Ronald." Sensei said as he kept walking.

"No you won't!" Ronald shouted as he pushed as hard as he could but still couldn't prevent the sphere containing the japanese old man to press forward.

"You can't overpower me Ronald." Sensei said calmly.

"You think so?" Ronald replied as he kept pushing, harder and harder and harder. The old man started to have more trouble going forward. Ronald started to shine, a deep glow covered him as he managed to stop the old man's advance.

"This is my world. Not yours." Ronald shouted as he started to push back the invader. "And you're not. Welcome. Here. Anymore." He gave one last push and the old man was forced out of his soul realm.

Ronald opened his eyes and stood up. "Ha! HAHAHA. Eat this old man. I'm not your tool, I'm RON STOPPABLE and I'm not yours to use as you please. I'm not your chosen one, your mystical monkey master or whatever you want me to be. I AM WHATEVER I CHOOSE TO BE!"

On the other side of the world, an old man opened his eyes. This was bad. If he already had that much control over his mystical monkey power, it would be exceedingly difficult, even borderline impossible to tip the scale back to balance. And balance was necessary, especially for a being as strong as Ronald Stoppable. Someone with his power ruled by his desires could bring only catastrophe to the world.

"If you can't reach out by strength, use other means." He thought as he imagined another way to help the troubled young man. This would indeed be very difficult, but no matter how strong the will and how mighty the power, there was always a way to reach the heart.


	37. Chapter 37 : Mind and Heart

**Bonus Chapter!  
Bet you didn't see this one coming. For this one I'll ask for something special in the reviews if you have the time. This Fanfic is the first one where I actually take the writing process pretty seriously and I try to keep things coherent and I'd like your feedback on one thing. I try my hardest to make the characters as human as possible in this fic. My main characters (Shego/Ron/Kim) are designed to be flawed and to make mistakes. They all have and they all will. Do you think I've succeded in doing this and if I didn't : what do you think I should change.**

 **Anyway, I'll stop bothering you now and let you guys enjoy the chapter where we dive a bit more into someone's mind.**

Yamanouchi's Sensei was still thinking about his clash with Ronald. His anger was strong and he used it to tap into his mystical monkey power to force him away.

If he had been close to the young man he could have done something but he couldn't afford to leave Japan, however he could try to reach to someone else who could try to help the young man. He thought about who could be the one to help Ronald. His new friend, Shego didn't know about him and wouldn't trust him. Besides she only knew Ron for a few months, and while their relationship was strong and based on trust it lacked the depth forged by the years. His friends at school never faced any of the hardship he faced in his life and couldn't understand what he went through. No, to reach out to Ron, he needed the one person who had shared everything with him, the good, the bad and the ugly.

He smiled and sat as he sent his mind across the ocean once again.

Rufus was curled next to a hospital bed. Hidden under a furniture in Kim's room. He spent his days next to the young teen. Feeding himself with crumbs from the vending machine or the cafeteria. Twice already they had tried to force him out as a nurse had found him sleeping in the room but he had managed to shake them off and come back.

As the nurse left the room, he climbed back on the bed and cuddled next to the young woman. "Kim-Kim, wake up please. Ron-Ron needs help. Ron-Ron needs you." The rodent thought.

As he slipped under the sheets, he felt someone touch his mind. A familiar presence.

"Old Sensei?" The rodent thought.

"Rufus, my friend." The old man said "I need your help. This is to help Ron."

"Rufus help old Sensei, Old Sensei help Ron-Ron." Rufus pleaded. "Ron-Ron not Ron-Ron. Ron-Ron need help."

"I know, but neither of us can give him the help he needs right now." the old man stated. "She can."

Rufus smiled "Kim-Kim always help Ron-Ron. Ron-Ron always help Kim-Kim."

"I need your help to talk to her." The old man said "Can you help me? I need your power to do this."

"Rufus help Old Sensei, Old Sensei help Kim-Kim, Kim-Kim help Ron-Ron." The rodent stated seriously.

"I'll do whatever I can," The old man said as he felt strength flowing to his mind. Using Rufus as an anchor, he reached out to Kim Possible's mind and dived deep inside her consciousness. Inside her soul, where he could find the spark that kept her alive.

After what seemed to be an eternity he reached her soul realm. He hadn't met the young woman for more than a few minutes but at the sight of her soul he felt like he understood why the chosen one had attached himself to her. He saw a child's playground as well as an abandoned preschool. In the distance he could see a lone tree with an old tree house at the top of it.

He walked toward the playground only to be met with a complete absence of reaction of the young woman. He looked around, a few old toys were left around. A ball was in a corner, a few items were lying in the sand and some plushes on the ground.

As he examined the playground, the old man could feel the memories filling the place. Memories of a long lost time where everything was simpler, treasured by the teen. He kept going forward and arrived at the bottom of the tree.

Sensei chuckled as he saw the ladder. Such things weren't of his age anymore. He started climbing and soon arrived at the entrance.

The treehouse was a strange place. You could see the trace of some furnitures that used to be there and weren't anymore. Some spot that looked like posters on the walls had been taken off the wall and on a small table was a cracked picture of a young girl with braces and a goofy young boy.

In the middle of the room was a young woman, crumpled on the floor. You could tell she had been sobbing from the dark lines under her red eyes.

"Kim Possible-san." The old man started "It's a pleasure to meet you again, though I'm sad it has to happen in those unfortunate circumstances." He walked toward her. "I assume you remember me, I am..."

"Go away..." Kim mumbled.

"I beg your pardon, Possible-san," The old man said with a smile "I couldn't hear you."

"I told you to go away," she said stronger this time.

The old man sat in front of her. "Well, that wouldn't be very useful." He replied "I managed to come all the way down here to meet you and talk to you. It wasn't easy to achieve and I hope you'll at least listen what I have to say."

"I don't need to." Kim countered "I already know what you're going to ask. You are going to ask me to come back. They all do."

The old man looked at her. What did she mean by that?

"I hear them, you know?" She continued "Not all the time but sometimes I can hear them when they talk. They all talk about how Kim Possible was amazing, how the world needs her, how she has to come back. What I must do. What I have to do. What I should do. I can hear them talk about Kim Possible, Kim Possible but no one talk about me or what I wanna do."

Master Sensei kept listening. He could feel she still had more to say, as if invisible floodgates had been opened.

"I mean why the hell should I even come back?" She asked "They all call me a hero, a symbol, a role model but I'm a damn fraud. I couldn't even be there for the only person who had been there for me his entire life the one time he asked me for help." Her breathing was ragged, her shoulders were moving again, he could see she was close to crying again. "I can't do that anymore. I don't want to. I give up."

"I didn't come here for that." the old man said slowly, a smile on his face. "I came here to tell you your friend needs your help, and you're the only one who can help him the way he needs."

Kim looked at him. "I'm listening." She said.

"Stoppable-san is starting to head down a very dark path right now." The old man started "He is starting to let go of everything you and he ever stood for. He needs your help in order to see the path he's taking will bring him nothing but emptiness."

Kim let out a nervous laugh. "Are you serious?" She asked "I'm literally the worst person for the job. You're asking me to come out and tell him the way he's living his life is wrong? And he should listen to me because I know better? I don't know better and he knows it. Ron will figure things out himself, I'm sure of it."

"Possible-san." The old man said "Stoppable-san is in a very dark place right now. He needs help, help that I can't give him. Help I'm sure nobody can give him but you. Not because you know better but because of the weight of your relationship. Because a bond formed by years of trust and friendship is, I believe, the only thing that can bring him back."

Kim sighed. "I'm sorry," she said as she turned away. "I'm not the one for the job. You came to the wrong place old man."

Sensei sighed too. "Kim-san." he started "I can see how much you're blaming yourself for what happened. How much you're beating yourself over it again and again and again. I can see it just by looking around this place." He paused "However the time will come, eventually, when you'll have to forgive yourself. Only then can you start looking at the real problem."

"Oh," Kim snarled "You think you understand my problems better than myself right? Because you're an old asian man with white facial hair."

Sensei smiled, "Kim-san, your feelings for Stoppable-san are obvious, already last year when he and Yori came to look for me you came after him, angry that he had left with another woman. Yet, you never let yourself see him as a romantic interest. No matter what happened you kept looking for something else. Because you wanted something else."

"If it's to tell me that my feelings for Ron are delusional or that they're the result of my guilt over what I did, then you can leave because you don't know shit about me." Kim shouted in anger.

"You misinterpret my words, Kim-san." The old man replied "Whatever your feelings for Stoppable-san are, only you can tell. However, there is a reason why you kept looking for something else even though he was right there by your side. And only once you accepted this, you can forgive yourself for what you did instead of blaming yourself for it. Then I hope you'll be able to provide Stoppable-san the help he needs."

Kim stayed silent as she took in the words of the stranger. "He needs you, Possible-san, he needs your strength, your kindness, your unwavering sense of justice and most importantly, he needs the strenght of your bond." Sensei said. "And to help him, you need to help yourself first."

"I can't help anybody." Kim replied as she turned away. "Not anymore."

The old man felt himself being forced out as Kim turned his back on him. As he started fading away he caught Kim's eye one last time. "Please, Kim-san. We need you to believe in yourself again."

As she heard those words, she closed her eyes and the old man faded away from her soul.

Who did this guy think he was? Coming here and talking like he knows her better than she knows herself. And yet she couldn't deny he had a point. She knew she harboured feelings for her best friend for a while, no matter how much she had tried to deny it the moodulator incident made that painfully obvious, yet she never made a move on him after that. She protected herself by saying she didn't want to hurt their friendship or by trying to fight Bonnie with her own medicine by dating a hottie but deep down she knew the reason why she didn't do anything about Ron.

Because she already had him by her side. He was already there for her in every way a boyfriend would be, they saw each other all the time, talked about everything and even went on dates, which meant she had no reason to ask him out and risk to lose him. That was also why she had felt so threatened by Yori when she had arrived and took Ron away. Because she had been selfish.

No matter what this old man said, she loved Ron, she really did. And more than in a friendly way. She loved his goofy demeanour, his jokes, his smile, She loved everything about him. She loved the warm feeling he created inside of her when they were together, she loved how safe she was feeling next to him as if nothing could ever happen to her. But she also wanted something else. Something more. The spark of a different kind of fire.

But that didn't matter anymore. She had seen his face when he had stabbed her, the cruel smile, the sadistic rage, the pleasure to finally make her pay for when she had abandoned him. She had lost him. She knew it. She had ruined everything. Because now she knew that no matter what she had actually been looking for, it didn't matter if she didn't have Ron with her. She wanted something more but she needed Ron in her life. And more than as a friend. She knew the tears had come back even before she felt them. She picked up the picture and curled on the floor as she closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift away as she lied inside a room filled with the memory of their happy times.

She had lost him. Whatever she thought she wanted, it didn't matter. Nothing else mattered anymore.


	38. Chapter 38 : What's in a case?

Meanwhile, at Ronald's place, Shego had joined Ron and they were waiting for their ride.

"So," Ronald asked "You got any plans for now?"

"Well," she replied "I may have found a job for now on. it's just a replacement but it's still something."

"Shego, that's great." Ronald congratulated her. "I knew you could do it."

"It's nothing," she replied, slightly blushing "I was just lucky they needed a replacement and I was qualified. And you, anything new today?"

"Nothing really." Ronald said "Still rocking as running back, classes were boring, but I did give Bonnie a ride home at the end of the day."

"You did what?" Shego almost choked. "Isn't she the girl who was always bitching about you and Kim?"

"I just gave her a ride home." Ron said evenly. "Besides, she doesn't do that anymore. She got really mature over the last few months. She stood up for Kim in front of the squad, stopped being overall mean. She's still Queen B but that's mostly it."

Shego sighed "Fine, fine. Just be careful not to send her mixed signals. I'm sure a lot of girls must be running after you now."

Ronald smiled "Don't worry, my signals were very clear."

"Good." Shego smiled, reassured.

Their ride was here. As they got in. Wade gave them their briefing. Apparently some star named Britina had been caught stealing some highly priced jewellery. However, she kept saying it was a missunderstanding and that it couldn't possibly be her despite the cameras catchin her red-handed. However, after a bit of digging from Wade, they had found out that the number of celebrities put in jail had gone through the roof over the last few weeks.

Every time it was the same thing. A celebrity was stealing some priceless thing such as a dress from a high class fashion designer or a highly priced piece of jewellery. They were easily recognised and arrested a few hours later, claiming they didn't steal anything. Until now, the police hadn't managed to recover any of the stolen goods and the media was tearing them apart.

Ron and Shego arrived at Los Angeles and headed to meet Britina in jail.

"I don't understand." The young star said "I didn't steal anything, I was at home when everything happened and didn't move the entire night. This tape must have been doctored that's the only explanation."

Ron smiled "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here and prove your innocence."

"Thank you." Britina said "Thank you, thank you. I knew I could count on Kim Possible's partners."

"We'll get you out of here." Shego said "If you're innocent, that is."

The young star seeled to choke on her own breath, "What do you mean if I'm innocent. I'm innocent. I didn't steal these jewels. I'm telling you this tape must have been doctored."

"What if this tape is right and you're just trying to use our credibility to give you leverage to get out of here?" Shego replied sharply. "We're Team Possible, you know. And we don't work for criminals, so the second we have a doubt about you, we're out."

She got up and walked out, leaving a scared and shocked pop star behind her.

As they got out Ronald grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, Shego..." he started

"Listen." She interrupted him "If this is about what I just did..."

"I know why you did it." Ronald interrupted her "I just wish you would have told me about it so that I could have backed you up."

Shego stopped walking, "You're serious?" She asked "i thought you'd be mad at me."

"No," he replied "I get what you did, you don't want us to be played so you put her under pressure to be sure she wasn't lying. And you're also protecting Kim's name in the process."

Shego nodded, "Now let's get to it."

"The tape first?" Ronald asked. "We need to send it to Wade so that he can tell us if it's a fake."

"I thought I'd go visit first" Shego said, "There is a fashion show in town today, I thought i'd check on it, to make sure nothing happens."

"Please," Ronald teased her "You just wanna see the dresses."

"We're in LA" Shego pouted "Can't a girl enjoy herself?"

This sight seemed eerily familiar, the big eyes, the pouting lips, the look… "Puppy dog pout!" Ronald shouted.

"Pleeeeeaaaaaaase." Shego said.

Ronald sighed "Fine, fine. You go. I'll catch up with you later. But no playing around."

"Promise." Shego said as they split up. She waved him goodbye with her right hand while crossing her left fingers behind her back.

Ronald headed toward a lab to send the tape to wade while Shego headed to the fashion show.

Shego arrived at the fashion show and had trouble containing herself. She may have been a villain for a few years but she still appreciated fashion and enjoyed whenever the job required her to wear fancy dresses.

As security tried to stop her, her old reflexes almost kicked in when she grabbed the hand of the nearest security officer. She stopped herself before things spiralled out of control and started talking "Please, go and tell your boss that Team Possible has arrived to make sure nothing happens to his collection."

As she finished her sentence, they immediately apologised. She was brought backstage with the models and the designers, they offered her a drink and told her the boss was going to come in a moment. As they left, Shego couldn't help but admit being a hero again had it's own set of perks.

Ronald finally managed to send the tape to Wade. He couldn't believe people still used security tapes today. In the 21st century. Sending it digitally to Wade had been a complete nightmare but he had finally managed to do it. He was in a cab, heading to the fashion show to join Shego when his Kimmunicator rang.

"Finished already Wade?" Ronald asked "That was fast."

"Well, I'm me." Wade beamed "I tripled checked what you sent me and I can tell you, I saw no sign of this tape having been tampered with."

"Thanks Wade." Ronald said, "I'll get back to you."

He called Shego. "Bad news." He started.

"The tape is the real deal right?" Shego replied

"You got it." Ronald said "You think she's using us?"

"With all the celebrity that have been caught stealing over the last weeks and yet still deny it I still think there's something fishy." Shego said.

"Agreed." Ronald replied, "I'm joining you at the show in a few minutes."

"Can't wait." Shego smiled as she hung up.

"Can't wait" Ronald whispered, "I'm the one who can't wait to have her."

He reached the show in about a few minutes and easily got in. He had to be smuggled inside by security in order to avoid the crowd of fans but he finally managed to join Shego backstage.

"That's tough being a star." She smirked.

"Shut up." Ronald replied "Anything to report?"

"Nothing," Shego admitted "Everything is going well. Entitled models are being assholes to their designers, just as usual."

Just as she said that they heard people shouting from the other room. As they rushed in, they could see two security officers down, the star model with the all important dress in her hands and the designer completely scared, hiding under the table.

"Help" he shouted as the model started running "She's taking the dress."

"Got it." Shego shouted as she ignited her hands and threw a couple of plasma bolts at the skinny woman.

"No fire!" The designer almost cried "This dress is worth a few hundred thousands dollars. If it burns you're paying for it."

Hearing this Shego put out her flames and dashed after the fugitive, Ronald besides her.

"You got an idea?" She asked her partner.

"You want a boost?" Ronald asked.

"That would be lovely." Shego replied.

Ronald opened his hand and called for the lotus blade. The blade appeared in his hand and instantly transformed into a shield. As she saw this, Shego smiled and jumped , landing on the shield, Ron then pushed forward as Shego jumped toward the model, landing a dropkick onto her back.

The runaway model fell to the ground and dropped the dress. Shego clawed at her and managed to scratch her shoulder. Making the young woman bleed.

"Argh," She shouted before pulling something out of her purse and throwing it at the two heroes. Immediately, tear-gas started to fill the area, Shego jumped backwards and started coughing as Ronald grabbed the dress before the thief could get away with it.

"Shit, she got away." Shego said.

"At least she doesn't have this." Ronald said, waiving the dress.

They brought it back to the show which was in an uproar. "We got the dress." Shego said.

"Who cares about the dress!" The designer cried "We lost the model, and we have a few hundreds people waiting for a final we can't give them. We should just call it off."

Ronald smiled as he got an idea. "Well, technically you could keep the show going if you had a spare. Someone to replace her."

"You think that's easy young man?" The designer said angrily "Even if we had a spare it would mean someone roughly the same size, who can handle the pressure and who's beautiful and captivating enough to wear my dress. You don't just randomly pick anyone."

"But," Ronald continued "If you had a beautiful woman, roughly the same size of your model who could handle the pressure of the show and who's special enough you could keep going."

"Technically, yes..." he replied weakly, "but..."

"Then how about Shego wears it?" Ron said bluntly.

"What?" Everyone including Shego asked.

"Well, They're roughly the same size, Shego can definitely handle the pressure and if you don't find her beautiful and captivating then you've got shit in your eyes." Ron stated.

Shego couldn't help but blush at the compliment. The designer lifted his head and examined Shego as his face lit up.

"I guess we can work something out." He said with a smile.

They all worked like madmen to adapt the dress to Shego as Ronald waited outside.

After some time, a staff member came in "Huh, sir, the guest are starting to leave."

"What?" The designer replied "Didn't you tell them to be patient."

"Yeah," the young man replied "but they seem pretty impatient and there is another show that's starting soon..."

"Dammit" he shouted "Just need a few more minutes." Ronald then left the room and headed for the stage.

"Where are you going?" the designer asked.

"To give you the time you need." Ronald replied as he came out on stage.

"Hello everyone." Ronald started "In case you lived under a rock for the past few weeks and don't know me, I'm Ron Stoppable and I'm acting as Team Possible's leader until Kim Possible comes back."

The crowd started whispering, wondering what this was all about and why the show had been interrupted.

I know everyone must be disappointed to see me. I mean, they guys came here for the girls and the girls came here for the dresses and since I am not the first and don't wear the second I must be a disappointment to everyone. A few laughs could be heard after his statement.

I'm hear to give you an explanation regarding Team Possible's assignement here and why your show has been interrupted. We've been asked to investigate regarding the cases of celebrity theft that have been occurring for the past weeks.

The guests all stopped. They were all influential men and women in the fashion world. They knew about this and all had been victims of it or knew someone who had.

"Today, the same thing almost happened as the dress you're soon going to see was almost stolen." They all gasped. "However, due to the effort of Team Possible newest member, we managed to prevent this." Ron sneaked a peek as he felt movement behind him. He could see the staff member giving him the "go" sign.

"This is why, thanks to your patience you're going to be able to admire them both." Ron concluded. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the newest member of Team Possible. Miss Sheila Goh!" He exited the stage as soon as he could as Shego made her entrance.

The dress was a deep green one that seemed to have been made for Shego to wear it. It was complementing her slightly green skin masterfully and highlighted her shining black eyes that seemed to draw you in the more you looked into them. Her black curls were cascading over her shoulder and back, highlighting the green dress even more. She seemed like a godess coming straight from another world to reign upon the foolish mortals who ended up entranced by her beauty.

Shego walked up the stage and struck a pose before heading back. She didn't stay for more than a minute but like a shooting start she had struck the heart of every single man and woman in the audience.

Ronald also couldn't help but gaze dreamily at the beauty that stood in front of them as they were all cheering and thanking her for saving them.

She looked at him and smiled as she saw his face. "I guess that was good, right?"

Ronald shook his head, "More than good. Believe me, they won't remember anything after you."

Shego smirked, "Guess I chose the wrong career then."

"If you want a contract..." one of the man started before being interrupted by Shego's look.

"Hey, Check it out." One of the staff member said as he brought his phone. The headline was showing the arrest of the model that had escaped. She has the nerve to deny when we were all witnesses here.

Shego frowned, something was wrong. "Did you see..."

"Yeah," Ronald said "Her shoulder."

"Her shoulder what?" The young man asked.

"Shego slashed her shoulder when she escaped earlier." Ronald explained, "it was less than two hours ago and yet there's no injury, scar or even bandage."

"How is that possible?" They all asked.

Shego smiled "Because she wasn't here." She said, "The girl who tired to escape and ruin the show wasn't her, the same way I'd bet any of these celebrities didn't commit any theft."

Ronald understood where she was coming from. "That's why the tape wasn't doctored and why she commit her crimes in plain sight. The more people can see her, better the alibi, This doppelgänger is smart."

"Dopplewhat?" The designer asked, completely lost.

"It's a shapeshifter," Shego explained. "She takes the appearance of the celebrities and commit crimes with their faces, then she just shifts back to her original face and let them take the fall."

"How can you stop someone like that?" The man said scared. "It could be anyone."

"You prepare a trap." Both Shego and Ronald said, smiling.

"A trap?" The designer asked "What kind of trap?"

They looked at him with an evil smile on their face. He paused for a few moments until he understood. "No! Absolutely not!" He said.

"That's the only way." Shego said.

"I'm not risking my masterpiece again for your little scheme." He stated firmly.

Ronald smirked. "Sir," He started "your masterpiece is already in danger." As he saw the man's perplexed look he kept going "This woman is stealing from celebrities not from banks which means she's probably the kind of person to be petty, and this kind of person won't accept losing like that. She will come back for this dress. So you can choose to either help us trap her or try to protect it yourself."

The man's skin was white as a sheet. "Fine." he finally conceded. "Do what you gotta do."

"I have a question." The staff member said getting everyone's attention. "You guys keep saying it's a woman, why?"

Shego smiled "It's simple really." She paused a moment for a dramatic effect "A guy would never be able to walk on heels at a fashion show."

They all laughed and started the preparation for the evening.

The news was all over LA in a flash. The show had been magnificent, and they hosted a party afterwards where everyone could admire both the dress and the woman who had snatched the hearts of half the designers in town.

A woman looked at the news on her phone and smiled. She knew a challenge when she saw one. And there was no way she would lose. But first she needed to do some research, after all this was the gig of her life. She dialled a number. It picked up after two rings, "Jack Hench's villain assistance what can I do for you?" A voice asked. "Hello, I need a few information on someone, I think you can help me..."


	39. Chapter 39 : Celebrations

**Hello everyone. Just wanted to tell you this chapter is the last of the year. I will take a break for christmas first then for my exams. The next update will probably be around the middle of january. Something big is happening in this chapter, I am waiting for your reactions.**

The party was amazing. It was like the entire fashion world had decided to meet here, tonight. And the only reason for this was Shego.

She was still wearing the dress and it seemed like every male and even a few women in the room couldn't take their eyes off her. Ronald felt again as if he was relegated into the background. Which was the plan. Once the shapeshifter made a move for the dress, he would strike from the shadows.

Meanwhile, Shego seemed used to these kind of events. She was handling everything flawlessly, from the job offers that seemed to come from every single model agencies in town and even from a few casting directors to the drunked moves from a few men without dates and even the occasional anger from another woman whose date had been too focused on Shego since they had arrived.

While the evening went on, Ronald faded onto the background even more, looking at Shego. She was just like Kim : She was born to be on that kind of stage. The attention, the men gazing at her dreamily, the women's jealousy easily visible.

These were the kind of women he wanted. And he had never wanted Shego more than he had in this instant.

As the night came, Shego excused herself for a moment and left the room. When she came back, she discretely walked next to him. She had let go of the dress and was wearing her usual green and black catsuit.

"I knew i'd find you here," she said "You can see everybody but nobody can see you." She paused for a moment "Do you know how tiring all this is?" She eventually continued "Hearing the same things from different people all the night and pretending to hear it for the first time and be amazed by it every single time. Kill me."

"Come on," Ronald smirked, 'You know you enjoy it. All these people looking at you, completely mesmerised by your evey movements and words. Don't think I don't see how much you're enjoying this."

"All right I admit it, I enjoy it." Shego admitted, "But sometimes too much is too much if you know what I mean. It's better to enjoy things moderately."

Ronald smiled at these words. "You know it."

Shego sat next to him. "Do you think about it sometimes?" She asked. "About what your life would be if you hadn't made some choices?" Ronald looked down at her, wondering what she meant "If I hadn't chosen to become a criminal this could have been my life. Big parties, wonderful dresses, well behaved heir courting me."

Ronald laughed "Okay now you're just making that up." he said.

Shego laughed before showing him five pieces of paper all with phone numbers written on it. "And that's only the ones who were openly hitting on me." She said smirking as she saw Ronald dumbfounded look.

"These idiots thinking they can get everything with their money." He mumbled.

"Are you jealous?" Shego teased him.

"I'm not jealous." He replied. I'm losing faith in mankind.

"You're so jealous." Shego said poking his shoulder.

Ronald stayed silent for a moment as Shego looked at him before crumpling the paper and throwing them to the nearest trash bin. "I'm just kidding." she said, snuggling next to him. Her head resting on his shoulder. Ronald could feel her scent fill his nostrils. She was so close, it was intoxicating. Her warmth, her scent, her hair, all of her so close to him.

"You know, Ron?" She asked, turning her head to look at him. "I never thanked you."

"You already did." Ronald said with a smile.

"No I didn't," she said "It's thanks to you that I can attend to these kind of event again, the kind of event where I know everyone isn't hiding a gun under his jacket. The kind of event where I can just focused on being in a beautiful dress and enjoy the attention. You gave this back to me."

Ronald stayed silent as he listened to her, letting her finish. "You welcomed me into your life and gave me a second chance, I'll never be able to repay you for that." Her head was moving closer to his, the darkness of her eyes almost hypnotising him. "You're awesome, Ron, you're the best thing I never knew I needed..." she whispered as she brought her lips to his.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Shego moved her lips away from his, staring at him. As he didn't move an inch she stood up. "I'm sorry," she quickly said "I shouldn't have..."

Ronald grabbed her arm. "Don't." He replied. "Don't be sorry, please," he continued as he saw her dumbfounded look. "Sure I wasn't expecting this, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it, or welcome it, or even wanted it for some time."

A smile blossomed on Shego's face as Ronald's hand moved from her wrist to her hand. "Come on," he said as he walked back to the room, you're the star. They need to see you.

Both of them walked back to the room with stupid grins of their faces. As they walked back to the room, everything went silent. The people in the room stepped back and stared at them.

"Ron," a familiar voice said "Who's this?" Ronald turned around only to be met by the sight of… Shego, still in her dress.

The Shego next to him laughed at such a display. "Seriously, miss Doppelgänger, you couldn't do better than this? A poor copy of me trying to get away with the dress you want."

The Shego with the dress crossed her arms around her chest. "Please," She said "If I really wanted to get away with the dress I wouldn't have come back, I would have just left."

"No you couldn't," The Shego next to him countered "Because I was with Ron so you couldn't have put the blame on me by stealing it."

"As if Ron is going to get swayed by such a poor acting." The Shego with the dress said, "He could make the difference between us in a flash." She turned toward him "Isn't it Ron?"

"Huh," Ronald said "looking confused from a Shego to another."

"What?" The Shego with the dress continued "You mean you can't make the difference? Even after all the months we spent together?"

"See," the Shego next to him said "You're desperate. Because you know you're not me." She turned toward Ronald "Let's finish this and go home," she said "Remember what happened back there?" She continued in a whisper, cupping his cheek "If any of this is true then you already know the answer."

"Wait," The Shego with the dress said "What are you two talking about?" her cheeks flaming at the display.

"You're right." Ronald said, as he opened his hand, the lotus blade appearing in his hand in the form of a shield. "Time to finish this and go home."

The Shego in the dress took a step back. "Ron, think about what you're going to do very carefully."

Ronald smiled "Already did." he said before spinning around and smacking the Shego next to him in the face with his shield as strong as he could. The woman in the catsuit spun in the air before being slammed on the ground. Unconscious.

"What the..." Someone started as the shape of the woman started to blur. Her hair changed from jet black to a dirty blond, her eyes from black to brown and her skin from slightly green to a slightly dark pink.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Ronald shouted. "Her she is, the shapeshifter thief. I assume you were all witnesses to her abilities?" They all nodded nervously at the sight of the unconscious woman. "Good," Ron said before picking up his kimmunicator.

A few minutes later, Camille Leon since that was apparently her name was in custody and they were preparing the release of most of the celebrities which had been put in jail over the past few weeks.

Ron and Shego were thanked by Britina and caught their ride home in the morning.

The ride was mostly silent. Ronald and Shego being mostly lost in their thoughts the entire time. They landed in the afternoon and picked up their bags.

"Hey, Shego." Ronald started. "Would you like to come to my place and have dinner tonight, the two of us. We could celebrate."

Shego shook her head, "I'm not sure about it."

"Shego," Ronald pleaded "Please. I need to tell you something."

Shego sighed. "Fine, I'll come. But you'd better cook something good."

Ronald smiled. "You bet. My place, tonight at seven." He said with a smile as he climbed on his motorcycle.

As the afternoon went by, Shego couldn't stop thinking about what she saw. The look he had when he came back. She couldn't stop to think about what had happened while she wasn't there. Her mind spiralling out of control imagining every kind of absurd situation. She put on a jacket, picked up her purse and hailed a cab. She didn't know what Ron had planned but she didn't know what to make of this.

As she came inside, she was welcomed by the heavenly scents of one of Ron's home-cooked meal. As she put down her jacket, she heard his voice. "Head straight for the dining room, I just need a few more minutes." He said loud enough for her to hear.

She smiled and avoided the kitchen to come and sit at the dining table. She smiled at Ron's preparation. Different sets of cutlery for every dishes, napkins folded in stylistic shapes, Ron didn't lie when he talked about celebrating. Ronald brought the appetizers and was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. She was breathtaking. Still clad in her usual green and black colors, yet she looked completely different from her usual catsuit. The suit was designed to make her look dangerous, feral, imposing while the dress she wore was bringing out her feminine curves and highlighting her jet black hair and eyes.

A pair of heels and two small earrings completed the sighed that took Ronald's breath away the moment he laid his eyes on her.

Shego smiled as she sat, "are you just going to stand here?" she asked teasingly. Ronald smiled and brought the plates.

The dinner was wonderful, Ron had managed to impress her even further with his cooking skills. It was sophisticated yet down to earth, something you wouldn't find in any restaurant on the planet. Something exclusive to Ron.

As they finished the main dish, Ronald stood up to bring dessert, as he left the room. Shego couldn't help but think about what had happened earlier today. As Ronald came back with the dessert, two slices of crumble and a whipped cream bomb, he noticed she looked down and sat next to her.

"Go ahead, I deserve it." He simply said.

"Huh?" Shego said, caught completely off guard.

"About what happened earlier with Camille Leon, when she was impersonating you." he started, "She came to see me. We talked a bit for a while, then we got closer and closer and then we kissed."

Shego didn't know what to make of this. She was furious as well as extremely happy. Furious because he didn't manage to make the difference between the two of them and had mistaken her for this thief. Happy because he said "we kissed" meaning he had wanted to kissed her. Which meant there was something. "No!" She shouted to herself "we already went through this, I'm not about to get hurt again like that. He likes Kim and that's all."

"When we kissed." He continued, "I was both extremely happy and extremely angry. First I was happy because it was something I wanted to happen for so long. Then I was angry because I realised it wasn't you."

Shego's heart leaped as she heard these words "He wanted this to happen? Does that mean..." she thought "Wait." She said "What do you mean, you realised she wasn't me?"

"Well," Ronald said "When I kissed her. It was pretty overwhelming at first, and then it was nice." Shego lifted her eyebrow wondering what he meant. "And I knew," he continued "That if I ended up kissing you, then it wouldn't just be "nice". It would be amazing, breathtaking, wonderful, anything but not just "nice." That's how I knew."

"Ron..." She started, before he interrupted her by cupping her cheek.

"Shego..." he breathed as he moved his lips to hers and locked their mouths together.

It only took a few seconds for their feelings to escalate from a small spark to a burning inferno. He wanted her, she wanted him. Her lips, his hands, her fingers, his mouth. Clothes flew around the room as the two of them satisfied their need of each other.

After a few minutes, both of them decided to stand up and head to a more appropriated place. They never let go of each other, Shego's hand only leaving Ron's body to grab the whipped cream bomb before they climbed the stairs and locked themselves in his room for a night they would both remember for a long time.


End file.
